Arcana
by Ankou13
Summary: She had been falling apart, the crumbling pieces of her mask lay scattered on the ground. Unbeknownst to her, her stone heart was yearning for someone to save it. To her joy a tiny flicker of light was presented in her cold dark world. And as time progressed that minute flicker of light engulfed her world. 'Katekyo Hitman Reborn' in the music industry. Slight angst. Fem!Tsuna
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

* * *

I was getting tired of it, I honestly was. I didn't know if I would be able to take it much longer. My façade was cracking. So when my manager, Reborn, proposed his idea, why _wouldn't I_ have jumped at the chance?

To be honest this whole music business was suffocating. Everyone always watched you, waited for you to mess up, to fail. You even had to watch yourself around your so called friends, because god knew they weren't really your friends.

Sure, when I first started my music career it was the best thing I'd ever done. I used to find myself having so much fun. However, things change, and not always for the best. When I first debuted several years ago I'd been an instant hit. My songs were fresh and new. I had a quality that not many people possessed. I could really relate to what I sang about. Even now it was still the same. My songs are always in the top five and they really resonate with my heart. Everyone loved my music.

Nevertheless I was growing tired. I was weary of all the deceit, all the scandals that corrupted the entertainment industry. Frankly I wanted out, but it seemed that it was the human condition to long for something that one may never have. I was too well known to ever be free of this world. No matter where I went I was always recognised. I could never escape.

No one really saw me. To them I was just a source of wealth, something they could profit from. Ever since my Father first introduced me into this world I was never seen as anything different. Yes, I know he was just doing what he thought was right at the time, but what really irks me is that the thought to _ask me_ on _my opinion_ never even _crossed his mind_. None of them ever noticed the ever-present cracks in my mask. They never even stopped to consider what I wanted. No one noticed, no one cared.

* * *

I had never really been one for the spotlight; I always hated standing out. Yet here I was, in the middle of a stage as the main attraction, about to perform my greatest hit. This was to be my last performance before I put Reborn's plan into action. He had talked to everyone about his proposal, explaining the way it would benefit them. He sounded almost like a salesman expertly advertising his pitch. I was grateful to him; he seemed to be the only one to have noticed my peril and actually cared enough to help.

The plan itself was easier said than done but I was willing to try it nonetheless. Especially if it meant getting away from here, even if only temporarily. I was to announce that I would be taking a break from the music industry for a while. Then I would pack up my stuff and retreat to a town called Namimori. Reborn said that for a while I'd be able to have a normal life. No one would recognise me, I'd even be able to attend school.

To say I was excited was an understatement. I was pretty much seconds away from jumping off the walls. I couldn't wait to find out what Namimori had in store for me.

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter is when the plot will begin to move. Feel free to review.


	2. Introductions

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

It had only been a week since I'd moved into my new home and my disguise was really starting to annoy me. Reborn had said that my disguise needed to be something outrageous but completely believable. It was a good thing that I had some experience in acting otherwise this disguise would never have worked. I knew that for a fact.

Reborn had said that in order to deceive the enemy, which in this case was everyone around me, I'd first need to make a few changes to my appearance. I knew from the beginning that I'd need a disguise, and I expected it to be something simple like hair dye and glasses. However Reborn had other ideas. He somehow got it into his head that the best way to keep my identity a secret was to change my gender. Of all the things I was expecting to come out of his mouth this was not one of them.

As soon as he had declared that fact he handed me over to a wardrobe and make up crew. My hair was cut and dyed black, red thin-rimmed glasses replaced my contacts and my non-existent boobs were wrapped in medical bandages that one often found on girls in manga. Then it was time for my clothes. To be honest, I kind of prefer boy's clothes as opposed to girls. With girls, their clothes are usually very unpractical, tight and obscure movement. Whereas boy's clothes don't generally cling to the body and are easy to move around in. However the thing about boys clothes that I love the most will always be that they don't have any lace or unnecessary frills to them. Maybe I should pretend to be a boy more often?

As I looked at my reflection in the mirror in front of me I was still shocked by my appearance, I really couldn't see any resemblance to the female me. Those make up and wardrobe guys were good. If it weren't for the fact that I went through it, even I wouldn't be able to tell that the current me and the old me were same person. Never before in my life would I have thought that would have to pretend to be a guy. Sure, somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind I had always wondered what it was like, but I never actually thought I'd find out. It was kind of fun. It was sort of like one of those undercover spy movies. Where they have to go into the enemies base and uncover some secret files, except in my case the mission was an attempt at a normal life.

Despite the obvious feeling of excitement flittering around in my stomach I was really quite nervous. Before I entered the music industry I was home schooled by my mother. Even during my time in the industry I always attended school at the studio. I had never been to a public school before and I really didn't know what quite to expect. As imagined I'm not the best at making friends, or talking to people for that matter, so my nervousness wasn't really unexpected.

I took one last look at myself in the mirror, to make sure everything was in order, before I headed down the stairs and out the door of my ridiculously large apartment. The school wasn't all that far away and wouldn't start for at least a half hour but I really didn't want to be late on my first day. Besides I had to check in at the front office to pick up some things. The walk there was quite uneventful, although I did see quite a few interesting people. One guy was sprinting along the road at an unbelievable pace, a dark haired boy was swinging a bat around in the park, and there was also a kid a little younger than me who wore a cow print onesie.

As I reached the gate I noticed a raven haired boy standing almost like he was the school's version of a bouncer. The other students that were there all seemed to avoid him like the plague. Ferocity rolled off him in waves, but despite that it seemed that there was something sad hidden under that cold exterior. He must have noticed my gaze on him for he turned to look at me, piercing eyes summing me up. I held my gaze steady, not the least bit intimidated, and offered a small warm smile. Surprise flashed across his face for a moment before being replaced by his cold mask. I continued walking, passing the boy; his eyes never strayed from me.

The school was really quite big. There were three buildings which were labelled to be the gym, theatre and main learning main building was a three story structure that contained all classrooms, minus the gym and theatre of course. The school had a very plain colour scheme of white, black and blue. The uniforms weren't much better. All in all the school seemed to have a very ordinary appearance. On the map I had received from Reborn it said that the Office was located right at the entrance of the main building. It was on my way there that I literally walked into someone. He was a tall silver haired boy that looked to be the same age as me. As I was about to fall backwards he grabbed my arms, saving my butt from its appointment with the hard unforgiving floor.

"Watch where you're going idiot!"  
"My apologies, but you're partly responsible too."  
"Tch. Whatever, just stay out of my way."

From first appearances he seemed to be a bad tempered delinquent. His uniform was messy and he wore a number of rings and bracelets. His ears look as if they were pierced and two necklaces hung around his neck. From his facial expression it appeared that he always wore a scowl. He seemed like the kind of guy that people would go out of their way to I had to admit he had a certain charm to him, something that made him fairly good looking. I could imagine that he had quite a few admirers. However, despite that angry exterior he seemed to be hiding a certain sadness deep within his heart. This brought my thoughts back to the raven haired boy that was standing in front of the gate when I walked in. Come to think of it, he was wearing a disciplinary committee arm band wasn't he? No wonder the other students were trying to steer clear of him.

Having managed to pull myself out of my thoughts I continued on my way to the office, it was just around the corner. Having silently opened the door I sauntered up to the front desk. The lady sitting behind it looked up and regarded me warmly with a soft smile. I informed her that I was the new student and her smile instantly brightened. She handed me a schedule and told me to sit in one of the chairs to await the arrival of my home room teacher. Sitting down and doing nothing was surprisingly more entertaining that I originally thought it would be. Back at the studio I was always made to sit completely immobile and wait for all the preparation for my performances to be completed. Compared to that this was much more interesting. I was taking this time to study my surroundings and ended up playing a one sided game of 'I-spy' with myself. It was about 10 minutes later when my home room teacher entered the office and was introduced to me.

The teacher who introduced himself as 'Nezu Sensei' led me through the building and to a classroom. After telling me that this was my classroom from here on out, he walked inside. I followed silently feeling slightly nervous. Nezu Sensei was standing to my right attempting to get the class to focus. I decided to take that moment to look around. There were quite a few people in the room, I noticed that the silver haired boy from before was also in this class. He didn't look the slightest bit happy. Nezu Sensei had finally managed to get the class under control and it was time for me to be introduced.

"Okay class. Today we have a new student. Introduce yourself."  
"Ohayōgozaimasu. My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. Nice to meet you."  
"Right, Sawada your seat is by the window over there."

After I had sat down Nezu Sensei began his lesson. I droned out most of the class considering that I had already learnt all of this from my tutors at the studio. Instead I took to surveying my surroundings. I noticed a few students looking at me every now and then. As the class continued to drag on I fell into my own little world. I began to think about the studio and what torturous things I would be going through if I was never presented this opportunity. I really had to thank Reborn. I wonder what would have happened if I had continued the way I was. I was honestly so close to falling apart. The sound of the school bell pulled me out of my stupor. The students around me all began to pack up their books. Some got up and walked out the door, others pulled out their lunch and started to eat. While I was watching those around me I noticed a boy make his way over to my desk.

"Hey, Sawada. I'm Natsume Satoshi. How are you liking school so far?"  
"At the moment, from what I've seen, it's fine."  
A few more male students approached my desk and stood next to Natsume-san. "These are my friends; Ryuunosuke Minoru, Yoshiaki Shinichi, Tatsuya Ryuu and Kazuki Toshihiro. We've been mates since grade school." The boys greeted me with a round of hello's.  
"Nice to meet you."  
"So Sawada, what brings you to our boring old town?" The one dubbed Tatsuya queried.  
"Nothing much really. I just wanted to see what an actual school was like. Believe it or not, but being home schooled for most of your life is very restricting."  
"Wow. So you were home schooled before coming here? I am so jealous of you right now." The guy called Yoshiaki said playfully.  
"Oi monkeys, leave the poor guy alone. I'm sure he just wants to eat his lunch without being bothered by you lot. Hey, new kid. I'm Kurokawa Hana. This person to my right is Sasagawa Kyoko, and the one on my left is Dokuro Kuromu. Want to come join us for lunch?" A girl, now known as Kurokawa-san, advanced towards the right of my desk.  
Natsume-san leaned in towards me and whispered something into my ear. "Lucky you man. Sasagawa-san is this school's idol. If I were you I'd take the offer."

I decided to heed Natsume-san's advice and accepted their offer. The guys shot me a thumbs up each as I grabbed my lunch out of my bag and followed the three girls up to the roof. The roof was devoid of life, the plain grey concrete almost welcoming. A tall green wired fence ran around the edge of the roof. The three girls were now sitting over towards the left, Dokuro-san and Kurokawa-san were leaning on the fence. I walked over to them slowly, almost letting my nervousness seep through my poker face.

"Um, thanks for inviting me to join you. If you don't mind me asking why did you?"  
"You looked rather uncomfortable with them was all. I figured you'd feel more relaxed around us." Kyoko explained.  
"Was it that obvious?" To be honest I was. I'd never really been around guys my age before. Maybe some people really did care about others. No, I couldn't let myself hope, not after last time. Get a hold of yourself Tsunayumi! Remember, no one notices and no one cares.  
"Not really. Kyoko's just the type of person who notices these things. So, I get that you're new and all but why were you so uncomfortable around them? Besides the fact that they're a bunch of monkeys."  
"Home schooled. I've never really met many people my own age before." It was true. I didn't have much free time to myself, I was always either working in the studio or being tutored. They only people I knew were all much older or much younger than me.  
"Jeez Sawada, you make home schooling seem so boring." Kurokawa-san commented.  
"Tsuna."  
"What?"  
"Call me Tsuna. I don't really like the sound of everyone calling me 'Sawada'."There was a moment before Kurokawa-san answered. I began to worry that I may have over stepped some line. Maybe I should have just ignored the awkward feeling I got from being addressed so formally. However before I began to sink into what was referred to as my panic mode Kurokawa-san responded.

"Okay then, Tsuna. Call me Hana."  
"In that case Tsuna-san you should call me Kyoko."  
"And me Chrome."  
"Arigatō Hana-san, Chrome-san, Kyoko-chan."

After lunch we went back to the classroom and I sat through the remainder of the lessons. The rest of the day flew by with me in an exceedingly happy mood. It was only my first day and I'd already made a handful of friends, both guys and girls. When the bell signalling the end of school rang I made my way home thinking about what types of things tomorrow would hold for me.


	3. Gokudera-kun

I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or the songs used in this fic.

* * *

The days began to flow by quickly. I got to know the people of my class, I became great friends with Kyoko-chan's and Natsume-san's groups, and no one even suspected that I was actually a girl. For the first time in years I was having fun. However, despite all the happiness I felt I couldn't shake off my past that easily. I was still awkward around people and often found myself wishing to be alone at times. This particular time I acted on that desire, I had found everyone's constant cheeriness just a bit overwhelming. So I had excused myself when the lunch bell rang and made my way to the music room. On previous escapades to spend some time in a solitary environment I had found the music room on the third floor to be a relaxing place. Natsume-san had told me that no one ever went in there; he couldn't give me a reason though, just warned me to stay away if I valued my life. Of course, needless to say I completely ignored his warning.

I made my way down the hall, passing several senior classrooms, until finally I came upon the music room. Silently I opened the door and slipped inside. The room itself was rather spacious; there was a small area down the other side of the room where the floor was raised, I assumed that to be the stage. A black grand piano sat majestically to the left of the area, and a drum kit was set up to the right of it. The floor, like the rest of the school, was made out of light wooden planks. The walls however, differed from the usual light blue of the classrooms and were instead a plain white. Honestly I preferred the white to the blue. Multiple windows lined the opposite wall, and strangely enough they always seemed to be open. It made me wonder what exactly happened in here that kept even the janitor away.

I made my way to the corner of the room and sat down, resting my head on my knees. After a few deep breaths I began calming my nerves. I was too far gone in my own little world trying to calm myself that I neglected to notice some had entered the room. I didn't stir from my trance until I heard the piano produce a sweet melody. I lifted my head off my knees and looked towards the piano; the silver haired guy from my class was playing. Tatsuya-san had insisted on giving me a run down on each of the students in our class. He had claimed that if there were three main people in this school that should really not be messed with. This silverette, or as he addressed him; Gokudera Hayato, was one of them. He had warned me that Gokudera-san had earned himself the nickname 'Smokin' Bomb Hayato' for he was a walking time bomb of anger. Gokudera-san had stopped playing, a dissatisfied expression was prominent on his face. I decided to take that moment to alert him to my presence as he obviously failed to notice me when he entered.

"Your left hand comes in too late."  
He spun around to face me, surprise etched into his features. "What?"  
"You're trying to figure out what is making it sound strange right? Your left hand came in too late."  
"Yeah, and what would you know? You probably don't even know what the piece is called!"  
"It's Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata." I stood up and joined him on the piano stool. "It goes like this." I began to play for him, staying silent until I came to the part that he had trouble with. "Here, listen. You played it with the chord coming in late, but they need to be played together." I took my hands off the keys.  
Gokudera regarded me with narrowed eyes. "Who are you? Moreover why are you in here?"  
"What, you don't know the names of your classmates? Well then, Sawada Tsunayu-yoshi at your service. As to what I'm doing in here, well I wanted some time to myself." I cursed myself for that stutter. I almost gave him my real name.  
"Whatever. Don't come in here again. You're not welcome."  
"Well excuse _me_." I let a little vehemence seep into my voice on the last word. "Fine, if that's how you want it then I won't come in here again. One thing before I leave though; your playing was beautiful, it really was. See ya." I turned and walked out the door.

* * *

I was back in my apartment that night, my homework was done, I had taken a shower and now I was cooking my dinner. When I was younger my mother had taught me how to cook. In the beginning I wasn't able to get through five minutes without setting the dish on fire. Now however my cooking skills were second only to her. Reborn had informed me before I left that he would be visiting sometime during my first week herein order to check up on me. I had a feeling that, that visit would take place tonight in time for dinner. I was making Frico with potatoes and Pancretta, and Bruschetta with melted cheese, sausage and sage. Just in case of Reborn's arrival I made enough for an extra three servings. When I was just putting the finishing touches on the dishes there was a knock at the door. Just as I had predicted Reborn was on the other side.

"Ciaosu." He greeted.  
"Hi Reborn. Come in."

I stepped aside and allowed Reborn to enter my temporary home. After closing the door behind himself he sauntered rather leisurely into the dining room. I walked past him and into the kitchen to grab the dinner that I had just recently finished making. When I walked back into the Dining room Reborn had already settled himself down in one of the chairs. As quietly as I could, so as not to disturb Reborn when his gaze was so intently admiring the knives, I placed the dishes down on the table. Despite being my manager Reborn was one hell of a scary guy. Most of the people I worked with had sworn that he was the Devil incarnate; unfortunately for myself I had the pleasure of finding out why a couple years back. That was one frightening experience I would much rather forget. After another quick trip to the kitchen I brought out Reborn's espresso and a glass of water for myself.

We ate in silence for a few minutes before Reborn decided to speak. "So Dame-Tsuna, are you enjoying it?"  
"Yes. There are lots of interesting people here. Thank you."  
"That's good. Everyone at the studio misses you." There was a hint of well hidden anger behind his words.  
"Do they? That's not surprising." I stood up and cleared the table of the various now empty dishes. When I emerged from the kitchen my hands were occupied with desert.  
The silence stretched on as we ate our dessert, Reborn seemed lost in thought. "Dame-Tsuna. There was another reason as to why I allowed you to come here, but because I'm so nice I won't tell you what it is yet." Reborn was smirking. It was never good when Reborn smirked.  
"Reborn!" Great, just great. I should have seen this coming. Really, I should have.  
"Well Dame-Tsuna, I'll be leaving now. I'll have to make you cook more often." With a final smirk he turned and left.  
"Wait! You can't just leave like that!" My protest fell on deaf ears for Reborn had already exited out the door.

* * *

A sigh escaped my lips as I collapsed in my chair for home room. My friends shot me a few odd looks but other than that did nothing. When I woke up for school that morning I had felt exhausted, but honestly who could blame me? Due to Reborn's ulterior motives I hadn't gotten much sleep. I was too focused on worrying about what he had said at dinner last night. Sleep had evaded me until utter exhaustion had taken over sometime early that morning. Before falling asleep however, I came to the conclusion that I'll never uncover his reasons unless Reborn himself enlightens me. Even though I had spent all that time worrying about it, I decided that it wouldn't do me any good. All that energy and time wasted; all that for nothing. I let out another long sigh, causing my friends to once again send me a few curious glances.

The rest of the morning passed in a boring uneventful manner. My friends had continuously made attempts at trying to gain my attention all throughout our classes, which I tactfully pretended not to notice. I wouldn't be as lucky now though, seeing as it was lunch there was no teacher to prevent my friends from talking to me. Resigning myself to the flood of questions that would be launched at me I took out my lunch and waited. Sure enough in a matter of seconds several silhouettes were in front of my desk.

"Hey Tsuna. What's up?" Kazuki-san queried.  
"Yeah, did something happen?" Natsume-san's voice held a note of genuine concern.  
"No, everything's fine."  
"Well I don't believe that for a second. What's wrong? Do you regret deciding to come to school?" Yoshiaki-san sounded understanding yet remorseful at the same time.  
"No! That's not it. It's just…"  
"Just what?" Natsume-san prompted.

However before I could respond another person approached my desk. I looked over, expecting to see Hana-san, Chrome-san or Kyoko-chan. In fact, I would have expected to see _anyone other_ _than_ who it actually was. The new figure was none other than Gokudera-san. To say I was surprised was an understatement.

"Sawada–"  
"Oh, you learnt my name!" Despite the sarcastic joy in my voice for some odd reason I was actually happy.  
"Tch. Shut up and listen. Meet me in the music room after school." He turned and left.  
Tatsuya-san spun around to face me. "What did you do?"  
"I have no idea."

* * *

I was standing outside the door to the music room, slightly anxious as to what was about to happen. My gut was telling me that everything would be fine but I wasn't all that inclined to believe it. Natsume and his group had wished me luck, excusing themselves to take care of some sudden business that popped up. Obviously they didn't want to be around to witness whatever was about to unfold.

After much deliberation I decided that I needed to hurry up and get this over with. I took a deep breath, pushed my nervousness aside and opened the door. The first thing I noticed was that in addition to the instruments that were usually out, another grand piano was standing next to the other. Gokudera-san was sitting at the original grand piano. He was playing an enchantingly sweet melody; it was the type of tune you could get lost in. Suddenly the music stopped, Gokudera-san was looking at me through narrowed eyes. After realising that I was still standing outside I took a step into the room and closed the door behind me. To say I felt awkward was a grave understatement. I had never been in this kind of situation before and I certainly didn't like it. What if he called me here to beat me within inches of my life? No, despite the tough and intimidating front he put up I _knew_ that wasn't the reason. There was something about him that made me feel like I could trust him. That was saying something, I never trusted anybody, yet something about the teen in front of me made me feel like I could.

"So. You wanted me here. I'm here. Now what?"  
"Tch. Sit." He commanded whilst motioning to the second piano.

Following his order I made my way over to the Grand piano. Unlike the original piano this one was a solid white. Not a scratch or smudge of dirt marred its surface; it looked so pure and clean. I didn't want to play such fine instrument for fear of contaminating it. One look at Gokudera's annoyed expression however, made me sit. I felt like a huge juxtaposition; the clean and pure grand piano and the girl engulfed in the dark. Once Gokudera thought I looked about as comfortable as I was going to get he started to explain why I was called here.

"Now listen. I don't like you-" I snorted. He shot me a glare. "And the fact that you could figure out what was wrong with my 'Moonlight Sonata' when I couldn't really irks me. Therefore you're and I are going to play this piece to see who is superior."  
Well that explains why he wanted me to sit at the piano. "I honestly have no interest in this. You can have the title if you want it. Was there more or can I go now?" I attempted to stand but a growl from Gokudera kept me in my seat.  
"We'll play at the same time and the person who stuffs up the most loses."

I looked at the sheet music sitting on the piano before me. Gokudera had chosenone of my favourite songs; if I wanted to I could play it with my eyes his command we began to play, perfectly in sync, not a note was out of place and the melody floated around the music room. It stayed that way for another few seconds until Gokudera missed a note. I looked over to him. His expression showed that he noticed the mistake; he looked utterly annoyed with himself. His expression was something akin to look on his face didn't sit well with me, for some reason I couldn't stand to see him in pain. He must really want to win this competition. I felt a strong urge, a desire almost, to rid him of that hateful expression. Even though I hated doing this to such an amazing song, if I wanted to ease his self-disgust then I was going to have to play the piece even worse than he taking a deep breath I began to play a horribly as I did when I was first learningthe piano. Gokudera noticed my mistakes instantly, he almost seemed happy about them. The song continued on that way for another couple of minutes until finally we both played the last chord. Gokudera narrowed his eyes at me as if he was trying to figure something out. Then in an instant the look was gone, replaced with his usual scowl which now seemed to be hiding a smile.

"I win." He statedoh so smugly.

I played my part by making sure not to meet his eyes. With a content look on his face his got off his piano stool and walked out the door. I waited a few moments watching the door before turning back to the piano. I really couldn't stand playing such a beautiful song so horribly. I began to play again, softly singing the lyrics that accompanied the notes.

_All around me are familiar faces  
Worn out places, worn out faces  
Bright and early for their daily races  
Going nowhere, going nowhere  
Their tears are filling up their glasses  
No expression, no expression  
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow  
No tomorrow, no tomorrow_

_And I find it kinda funny_  
_I find it kinda sad_  
_The dreams in which I'm dying_  
_Are the best I've ever had_  
_I find it hard to tell you_  
_I find it hard to take_  
_When people run in circles_  
_It's a very, very mad world mad world_

_Children waiting for the day they feel good_  
_Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday_  
_And I feel the way that every child should_  
_Sit and listen, sit and listen_  
_Went to school and I was very nervous_  
_No one knew me, no one knew me_  
_Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson_  
_Look right through me, look right through me_

_And I find it kinda funny_  
_I find it kinda sad_  
_The dreams in which I'm dying_  
_Are the best I've ever had_  
_I find it hard to tell you_  
_I find it hard to take_  
_When people run in circles_  
_It's a very, very mad world ... mad world_  
_Enlarging your world_  
_Mad world_

As I took my hands away from the piano keys the door suddenly slid open. Gokudera was standing in the door way.

"Ah, Gokudera-san! You were still here?"  
"I forgot my bag."  
"Oh." I scratched the back of my head making sure to avoid his eyes.  
"If you can play the piece that well then how come you played so terribly against me? Did you not take my challenge seriously?" His words were heavily underlined with a vicious anger.  
"No! I did take it seriously." For some reason I needed to make him understand. "You just looked like you were in so much pain every time you made a mistake. I – I didn't – like that." Well that could have gone better; he probably thinks I pity him now. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. I sighed dejectedly. I heard him move closer towards me and cautiously looked up. What I saw was far from what I expected, where I had imagined anger was an expression of pure admiration and gratitude. "Gokudera-san?"  
"I was wrong. You're a good person." Gokudera-san sank to his knees in apologetic pose and started whacking his head on the floor. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should never have disrespected you like that. I don't even deserve to be in your presence!"  
"Gokudera-san!" Worry made my voice jump a few octaves. "Please don't do that, you'll hurt yourself!"  
"You're such an amazing person Judaime!"  
"I'm really not. Judaime?" I asked with one eyebrow raised.  
"It's too disrespectful to call you by your name. Besides you're the tenth person that I've heard with such an alluring voice."  
"Thanks, I guess. However I would prefer it if you called me 'Tsuna'."  
"No. I couldn't possibly." He was dead serious.  
For some reason I couldn't help but smile at this. A true smile. Gokudera-kun beamed. "Well then Gokudera-kun," I held my hand out to him and he took it eagerly. "would you like to join me for dinner?"  
For a moment he looked at me like he had found out I was God. His expression then morphed into something akin to gratitude. "It would be an honour!"

I think I just acquired my first real friend. Perhaps Gokudera-kun would be able to save _me_ from _my_ hell– No, he couldn't, it wasn't his problem. Besides, no one ever noticed and no one ever cared.

* * *

If anyone's wondering the song is 'Mad World' (Gary Jules version)


	4. Yamamoto

I think I forgot to mention it at the beginning but Tsuna and the gang are in high school in this fic. I may have also forgotten to mention her name. My bad...

Actual name: Tsunayume Sawada  
Fake name: Tsunayoshi Sawada

Sorry for any confusion. One more thing, when I write dialogue I don't have the spaces in between lines. Does that make it harder to read? Would anyone like me to start putting spaces in between?

Tiger723: All in good time ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

Last night had been a very eventful one. At first it had been somewhat awkward, neither Gokudera-kun or I really knowing how to properly act around other people. It took a while but eventually we had grown comfortable enough with each other. Gokudera-kun had told me a lot about himself, I think he narrated his entire biography. I had told him a few things about my life, of course leaving out anything that could give me away and any painful memories I felt no need to bring up. He didn't need to know any of the end of the night he had complemented me numerous times on my cooking, and really anything and everything. However as it grew late we said good bye and he walked back to his own home. I had felt a strange sense of loneliness. It was mixed in with one of those really bad foreboding feeling that you sometimes get in the pit of your stomach, where you just know something bad is going to happen but have no clue as to what it is or how to stop it. I had _hoped_ that it would be gone by the morning, but if anything the feeling seemed to have intensified.

Gokudera-kun had decided to take it upon himself to walk me to school every morning. Truthfully I was quite happy with that fact. He acted somewhat like a loyal puppy dog, which at times was fairly unnerving, but I was grateful to have finally found a real friend. Maybe, just maybe there was hope for the world yet.

Like every other school day so far today was boring with a capital B. We had finished up the day with Phys Ed. Our teacher informed us that we would be having a baseball match. Gokudera had left half way through the day to do God knows which meant that we had managed to play a relatively friendly game. In the end the team I was on lost; of course my sheer clumsiness didn't help that fact. However before I could go home I had to stay behind and clean up the field as it was my turn for cleaning duty. The other guy who was supposed to be helping me had obviously bailed, so I was left to do all the work.

When I was halfway through the work Yamamoto-san, one of the more popular boys in my class, walked over to me. "Help has arrived!" His voice sounded cheerful but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.  
"Yamamoto-san?"  
"That's me. So are you enjoying school here?"  
"Yeah, it's pretty interesting."  
"That's good." It fell silent for a few minutes. Yamamoto-san seemed to be contemplating something as his face was scrunched up in deep concentration. "Hey can I ask you something?"  
"Sure."  
"Well, baseball is like my life, my dream career. I'm usually pretty good at it too, but lately no matter how much I practice my average is dropping and my fielding is screwing up. At this rate it'll be the first time I don't start since I began playing baseball. Tsuna… What should I do?"  
"I'd say it's about effort but I honestly don't know. I don't really have any experience in these matters. Just do your best. Remember not to do anything too drastic though, Yamamoto-san."  
"Yeah you're right. I thought it was that too. We agree as expected."

* * *

Ever since our little competition the other day Gokudera-kun had requested that I tutor him in playing the piano. So far we had only had three sessions but he had improved significantly. I was convinced that he was one of those natural born geniuses. We had just finished one of these sessions but there were still 15 minutes before we had to go back to class, so Gokudera-kun had proposed hanging out on the roof. This was where I was currently sitting. Gokudera-kun had run off to get a couple of drinks so I was stuck waiting for him. I _would_ have been sitting comfortably just watching the sky but the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach had intensified tenfold. Even the sky which always seemed to calm me down and make me feel at peace couldn't get rid of this feeling. The slam of a door startled out of my reverie and I looked up to find Yamamoto-san stalking purposely over to the fencing. He jumped it in one bound and landed softly on the narrow ledge.

"Don't throw your life away over something stupid." I called to him.  
Yamamoto-san spun around on the ledge, slight surprise etched across his face. "What?"  
"You're a high school student, there haven't been any deaths or tragic accidents around these parts lately, and you're definitely not subject to bullying. So I'll repeat, don't throw your life away over something stupid.  
"Yeah? What would you know? My friends aren't really my friends. They only stick around because of my reputation. And now that I've broken my arm I've got nothing left. Baseball was my life and now that even the Baseball God has thrown me away there's nothing left to live for."  
"'What would I know', is it? I know a lot more than you think. If you want to go and throw your life away over something as stupid as this then be my guest." My voice was low and cold, I turned around fully prepared to leave but my anger hadn't yet dissipated. I swung back around to level a glare at him; he had a look of full blown surprise etched into his face. "You know you're not the only person suffering in this world; some people have it worse off than you! If you haven't got any real friends then go and find some! If you're in a slump then take a break! There's more to life than petty friends and high school baseball."  
"Oh, Tsuna! The great exchange student, all high and mighty! Thinks he knows everything."  
"Don't you dare accuse me of that when you don't even know me! Just forget about me, everyone else does anyway. Why should I care if you decide to go through with this? I'm only trying to stop you from ruining your father's life. You're a lost cause."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Did you even think this through? Did you think about your father? What will he think? How do you think he'll react? Do you think it'll be all butterflies and unicorns? Do you think that everything will be fine if you kill yourself? You don't think he'll grieve? He will _distraught_. Be thankful that you have someone who cares for you, some people aren't so lucky! Do you really want to make your father suffer just because of something as stupid as this?" Realisation flashed across Yamamoto-san's face as his grip tightened on the fence. I softened my tone. "Yamamoto-san, are you really sure you want to do this?" I took a couple of quick steps forward until I was standing directly in front of him. I held out my hand to him. "It's not too late. It's never too late." He still didn't look convinced, so taking a deep breath I began to sing. It was the new song I had been working on.

_This world will never be what I expected_  
_And if I don't belong who would have guessed it_  
_I will not leave alone everything that I own_  
_To make you feel like it's not too late, it's never too late_

_Even if I say it'll be alright_  
_Still I hear you say you want to end your life_  
_Now and again we try to just stay alive_  
_Maybe we'll turn it around cause it's not too late_  
_It's never too late_

_No one will ever see this side reflected_  
_And if there's something wrong who would have guessed it?_  
_And I have left alone everything that I own_  
_To make you feel like it's not too late, it's never too late_

_Even if I say it'll be alright_  
_Still I hear you say you want to end your life_  
_Now and again we try to just stay alive_  
_Maybe we'll turn it around cause it's not too late_  
_It's never too late_

_The world we knew won't come back_  
_The time we've lost can't get back_  
_The life we had won't be ours again_

_This world will never be what I expected_  
_And if I don't belong_

_Even if I say it'll be alright_  
_Still I hear you say you want to end your life_  
_Now and again we try to just stay alive_  
_Maybe we'll turn it around cause it's not too late_  
_It's never too late_

_Maybe we'll turn it around cause it's not too late_  
_It's never too late_  
_It's not too late, it's never too late_

"Well if that still hasn't changed your mind then I guess there's no use tyring further. See ya." I turned around and took a couple of steps but Yamamoto-san grabbed my hand. The sudden force on my arm caused me to slip backwards and crash into the fence. I felt it give way underneath me and suddenly both Yamamoto-san and I were toppling backwards over the ledge.

"Judaime!"

Reborn's physical training lessons along with quick thinking enabled me to grab Yamamoto-san's uninjured hand with my left hand and the ledge with my right. Reborn's ridiculous training regime certainly wasn't looking as ridiculous anymore. I felt a hand grip my right wrist and looked up to find Gokudera-kun glaring at Yamamoto-san.

"Judaime, let go of the ledge."  
I shook my head. "Gokudera-kun I need you to take Yamamoto-san."  
"But Judaime-"  
"I'll swing him up on three."  
"Hai Judaime."  
"Ready? One, two and three!" I swung my left hand accompanied by Yamamoto-san up to Gokudera-kun and he pulled him over the edge. They both fell backwards, tumbling in a heap on the roof. I used my now free left hand to grab the ledge and swung myself up and over.  
"Gokudera-kun was now up and was frantically fretting over me. "Judaime! Are you okay? The stupid baseball freak didn't hurt you did he?"  
"You okay Tsuna?"  
"Don't be so disrespectful to Judaime baseball freak!"  
"I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle."  
"Just what I'd expect from Judaime!"

We sat in an awkward silence for a few moments after that until the bell rang. After having pushed ourselves up off the ground we made our way back to class. The halls were flooded with students trying frantically to get to their classes without running in the halls. It was a very amusing sight, I had to wonder what they were so frightened of. Gokudera was walking on my right silently glaring over my head at Yamamoto-san, who was standing on my left. His usual grin was back in place, only this time it was real. The feeling that had been annoying me all morning seemed to have finally subsided.

* * *

Thanks to today's events I now had two people walking home with me. I thought I would be more uncomfortable about it but surprisingly I was quite at ease, almost as if it was something that had happened every day of my life. Gokudera-kun was having a one sided argument with Yamamoto-san about God knows what and Yamamoto-san was laughing it off like an idiot. We continued walking like that for a few more minutes until we came to the crossroad where we had to part ways. I turned to Yamamoto-san and Gokudera-kun.

"Bye Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto-san."  
"No need for the 'san' Tsuna, we're friends now. Besides thanks for saving me from my stupidity!"  
"Good bye Judaime!"  
A real smile that I hadn't had in a long time had broken out onto my face. "Thanks. See ya!"

As I turned and left I could help but let that smile grow even bigger. Maybe there really was hope yet.

* * *

The song was 'Never Too Late' by Three Days Grace.

Thanks for reading this far. :) Don't forget to leave a comment~


	5. Shopping With the Girls

Alia Inverse: Adrenaline mixed with Reborn's training (bear in mind that he's not a baby in this fic. Imagine a much harsher regime)

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this far, and thank you for all the wonderful reviews. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

The streets of Namimori were bustling and full of people, everything was colourful. The air was littered with sounds of street vendors advertising their products, people engaged in idle chatter, and cars and motorbikes racing down the street. I had convinced Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun to leave me to my own devices for the day. It had taken a while and a whole lot of persuading but finally they relented. Now I was walking the town, meaning to do some quick grocery shopping. The only problem was that I'd never been shopping on my own before so I was at a bit of a loss. When I had first moved into the *apartment* everything was already there, all the food, toiletries, bedding and anything else that I might possibly have needed. I was currently having a silent stare down with the shelf in front of me. It was honestly ridiculous how many different types of the one product there were.

"Tsuna-kun?" a sweet sounding voice came from my right.

I looked up, ending the stalemate. Kyoko-san, Chrome-san and Hana-san were standing in the aisle. I slipped a smile on my face and greeted them. "Ohaiyo."

"What are doing here Tsuna-san?"

"Just some grocery shopping."

"Are you sure about that? It looked more like you were having a staring contest with the shelf." Hana-san remarked.

"Ah, ha ha." Great, now they probably think I'm an idiot.

"Would you like some help?" Kyoko queried.

"That would be a life saver."

"What else are friends for?"

Over the next half an hour I had managed to get my grocery shopping done with the help of Hana-san, Chrome-san and Kyoko-san. I now had a more than adequate knowledge of food brands and the entirety of the supermarket. I always used to think that something as mundane as shopping was something that I would never be able to experience myself. The company that held my contract never let me leave their sight or do anything a normal girl would do. My daily schedule consisted of nothing more than practising, recordings, the odd photo shoot or acting gig, the quickest meals, and on occasion live performances. I was never allowed any time to myself, nor any time with my supposed friends. There was a time where I was convinced that the company was bribing them just to be friendly with me. Honestly I was amazed that I hadn't gone insane already. Thanks to all of that, this situation that I was in now was like a dream come true. If someone a few years ago told me that I would be living like this I certainly would not have believed them.

"Tsuna-san, would you like to join us for lunch?" Chrome-san questioned me.

"Only if you don't mind. You've already given me enough of your time."

"Join us. This way you can accompany us when we do our shopping later, perhaps be our bag boy." Hana-san remarked. Although portrayed somewhat as an insult, there was something in her tone that suggested a certain fondness. Kyoko-san set about reprimanding her and assuring me that I wasn't a bother.

I smiled at their antics. "Sure."

According to Kyoko-san, whenever the three of them went out shopping together they would take turns at choosing where to eat lunch. Apparently today it was Chrome-san's turn to decide. Chrome-san took the lead and skilfully manoeuvred herself, and by extension the rest of us, through the ever growing crowd of shoppers. Eventually we found ourselves standing outside a well presented little cake shop. Chrome-san pushed open the door and led us over to the counter. The display was piled high with various different types of cakes, each style armed with a multitude of flavours. For a small out of the way shop the cakes all looked like they were of the highest quality.

"Wow." I couldn't help but stand and gape at the sheer delicious appearance the cakes were emitting.

"I take it it's your first time coming here then. It's a lot to take in isn't it?" Kyoko-san's tone was mixed with understanding and a little humour.

Kyoko-san's voice snapped me out of my stupor and I managed to regain my composure. "You've got that right. So, any recommendations?"

"Hm, well I quite like the little strawberry one there." My gaze zeroed in on the cake Kyoko-san was indicating. It was a triangularly cut piece of cake, quite a decent size as well. The cake itself was a vanilla sponge with strawberry filling running horizontally along the middle. The top was covered in a glossy icing with two strawberry halves placed as finishing touches. All in all it looked very appealing.

Hana-san garnered my attention with a question. "Have you decided what you want yet Tsuna-san? You're the only one left to order."

"Ah, yes sorry. I'll have this." I indicated the strawberry cake. Just as Hana-san, Chrome-san and Kyoko-san were about to pay I intervened. "Ah, let me. You've done a lot for me today, so let me pay for this."

"Are you sure Tsuna-san?" Kyoko-san sounded hesitant, almost reluctant.

"Yes, my treat." The three girls backed down seeming to notice that I wasn't going to let up on my decision. "I can wait here if you guys want to go and get a seat."

They nodded and left me to wait. I decided to take this moment to get a proper look at the interior of the cake shop. It had a very professional yet homely feel to it. Whoever designed this place must have seriously had a thing for wooden furnishings. The walls, floor and roof were all constructed out of a dark wooden board. Even the serving counter, tables and chairs were made out of the same wood. In all honestly I quite liked it. Having looked around at the rest of the shop some more, I noticed that there weren't that many customers. There were a few of what looked to be couples situated at several of the tables, as well as a few individuals who seemed to be really enjoying their cake. Other than that though the shop was pretty much deserted. It wasn't long into my musings that the lady from the counter caught my attention and handed me the tray holding our various cakes.

"Hahi! You're that guy from the other day! Tsuna-san!"

I spun around, a bit surprised. Before me stood a girl around the same age as me, her brown hair was tied back in a short pony tail. She was quite pretty. "Haru-san, I didn't expect to see you again so soon. How are you feeling?"

"Great thanks to Tsuna-san! What are you doing here?"

"Shopping with some friends." A smile lit up my face; this was the first time I could say that with it actually being true.

"Eh! Tsuna-san enjoys shopping?" Haru-san looked astonished.

"Haha, not exactly. Haru-san would you like to join us?" I motioned to her cake.

"Hahi! Haru-san join Tsuna-san and his friends?" She looked a little wary at the prospect. Maybe she thought my friends were guys?

"Yeah, you'll be fine. Come, I'll introduce you." I grabbed Haru-san's hand and led her over to the table were the other were sitting. Despite my calm façade I was worried; was this going too far? Was I even allowed to bring someone over? Was I crossing some sort of line? Maybe I was breaking some sort of rule form that notorious girl code thing? I was broken out of my little panic attack when we reached the table. I took a deep breath and pushed all my worries aside, hoping for the best. "Minasan, this is Miura Haru-san whom I met the other day. Would it be okay if she joined us while we eat?" For what it was worth Haru-san looked slightly relieved at whom I was addressing.

"Of course, the more the merrier Tsuna-san." Kyoko replied.

That one sentence did it. I almost collapsed from relief right then and there. My relief must have shown on my face because Hana-san shot me an odd look. I just smiled in reply and grabbed another seat for Haru-san. After Haru-san had introduced herself properly and when we were all comfortable and enjoying our cakes, Hana-san decided to take that moment to interrogate Haru-san.

"So Haru-san, how did you come to meet this monkey?"

"Well, Tsuna-san saved me..."

_~Flashback~_

_School had just been let out for the day and Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun and I were walking home together. Like usual Gokudera-kun was having a one sided argument with Yamamoto while the latter was just laughing it off. It was just a typical afternoon; the grass was green, the sky was tinted a deep orange in response to the sun's position, and I was having fun with my friends. We were walking along the road, about to cross the stone bridge, when we heard a very shrill scream._

_"Hahieeeek!" A splash was heard. _

_"What was that?" Gokudera-kun queried immediately putting a stop to his one sided argument._

_ "Sav-" The single splash from before turned into a set of continuous splashes, there was even what sounded like someone coughing up a bucket load of unwanted water that had entered their mouth. "Save me!"_

_It was that simple phrase that set me, Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun into motion. We all ran to the bridge and peered over one of the sides. Down below was what appeared to be a young girl, around our age, splashing about in the water. Looking around I noticed that there was a bag and signboard resting at our feet, she must have been standing up here and somehow fallen. She seemed to be struggling under the heavy armour she was wearing. Why she was wearing it I had no clue, but there was no time to ponder that thought as she called out again._

_"S-someone, ple-" again she chocked on the water "please help me!"_

_No longer spending any time to think I dashed off the bridge and slid down the bank until I was at the water's edge. The girl wasn't too far out from the bank and I could probably reach her with a bit of help. I looked around again and spotted a decent looking length of rope sitting idly on the bank a few meters or so away from me. I jogged over to the rope and grabbed it, then returned to my previous position on the bank. Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun appeared behind me, their faces serious, much different from the usual expressions they wore. They noticed the rope and seemed to understand what I was going to do as they positioned themselves on their knees by the edge of the bank._

_"Girl-san, I'm going to throw you a rope. Hold on to it very tightly okay?" Without waiting for a response I threw one end of the rope to the girl. She temporarily stopped her desperate flailing to grasp it. As soon as she had a strong enough hold on it I started to pull the rope, and by extension the girl, to the bank. When she was close enough I dropped the rope to help Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun pull her up onto dry land. We all just sat there for a moment, watching as she managed to regain her breath._

_"Thank you very much." She met each of our eyes._

_"No problem." I responded._

_"Haha, it's a good thing you're safe. Right Tsuna?" I nodded._

_"Stupid woman! What were you doing?"_

_"Haru is not stupid! Haru was advertising for the place where Haru works. I was about to take a break when suddenly I found myself falling over the edge of the bridge." We were all silent for a moment, not really sure how to respond to that when she started talking again. "It was… very wonderful that you saved me. My heart is… pounding!"_

_"Ah-"_

_"I can say Haru has fallen in love with Tsuna-san."_

_"Um, Haru-san? I really don't think that's a good idea. I'm not-"_

_"Yeah, stupid woman. Don't go getting all close to Judaime._

_Gokudera-kun and Haru-san continued arguing while Yamamoto tried to placate the both of them. Despite the calm façade that I only just managed to keep in place I was crying on the inside. I am not a guy! No one seemed to notice my mental breakdown._

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that. Though it doesn't really surprise me, you did manage to tame that volatile monkey after all." Hana-san commented. "One question though, why didn't you just swim? It would have made things much easier."

"I would of, if I knew how to."

"You don't know how to swim?" This time it was Kyoko-san who spoke.

"Yeah, I've never really had the opportunity to learn before." Well that wasn't entirely true, I'd always wanted to learn and there were plenty of chances where I could have, but the company said there wasn't really any point as, and I quote 'You have no need to learn how to swim. You're here to work not to fool around.' So despite all the chances that arose to teach me how to swim, no matter what the company decided against it. Eventually I gave up trying to persuade them to allow me to learn.

"Wow, that's something I wouldn't have thought." Chrome commented softly.

After we had all finished eating our respective cakes I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping with the four girls. It only took about two hours for Kyoko-chan, Hana-chan and Chrome-chan to get what they came for. When they had attained their merchandise they, with the addition of Haru-chan, somehow got the idea that I needed to be schooled in the art of shopping. We visited numerous clothes stores; most of the time they made me try on a heap of different outfits. The men's changing rooms soon grew very familiar the more times I had to enter. By the time that they had decided that I'd learnt enough about clothes, the sun was already sitting very low in the sky. Not long after that we had parted ways and I ventured down the familiar path to my apartment. That was certainly an interesting day that I would never forget.


	6. Lambo and the Amusement Park

Howdy all. I apologise for my tardiness, but it's not entirely my fault... My computer decided that it was a good idea to self-destruct. :'( Anyway, because of that I now have no access to a computer. Trust me, I'm dying because of it. So I wont be able to update until either, I get a new computer (although that may take a while as I'm currently broke) or I somehow get access to one. I'm only able to post this today because my friend decided to take pity on and lent me his computer. So much trust, haha. ;) Apologies again, I feel bad about keeping you guys waiting. I would upload the next chapter as well but I need to do some editing first. Hopefully the longer chapter this time makes up for it... Gomen!

Just something I thought you'd like to know:

- Hibari and Mukuro are 18 years old, Ryohei is 17, Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto and Chrome are 16, and Lambo is 14.

I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

After my day with the girls yesterday I had hoped to spend today at home, doing nothing. Of course Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun decided to show up at my apartment a couple of hours before lunch that morning to declare that they had a schedule for the entire day planned.

Honestly, today should have been a day where I was able to calm down and recuperate. As I was still not used to being around people my age on a daily basis, I needed some time to breathe. My heart rate was slowly exceeding more than 'a little over erratic'. I really should have protested, if I explained the circumstances they would have understood, right? Of course they would have, they're my friends and friends are meant to be understanding. _Maybe if I just asked them for a rain check? But that would be considered downright rude though wouldn't it? I mean, they went to all this trouble for me, to show me the town and all of their favourite places, and then I come out and ask if we could do it another day. What if they felt greatly offended and decided they didn't want to be my friends anymore? What would I do if they hated me? I couldn't take that, they were my first true friends. Okay, so declining is off the table, but I really don't think that it's a good idea for me to leave the house today._ There was a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that showed up when Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun did, but then there was also something telling me to go. Ahhh, what do I do? It's not a good idea to go out today but I can't just say no!

Yamamoto must have noticed some indecision in my expression. "What's wrong Tsuna?"

"Is something troubling you Juudaime? It's this Baseball Freak isn't it? Don't worry Juudaime, I'll take care of him!" Gokudera-kun pulled out his dynamite ready to blow Yamamoto up.

"No, no. I'm fine." So without further ado I was sent up to my room to change before we set off to start on the day's activities.

First up was a visit to their favourite candy store. They illustrated a conventional little store situated just past the park. Which was where we currently were. The park had just come into view and we were about to pass the entrance when we heard an overly loud argument. As we all stopped walking we noticed a boy a little younger than us being cornered by a group fierce and arrogant looking delinquents. The kid seemed to be wearing what looked like a cow patterned shirt and had a miniature not-quite afro. Something about the boy seemed awfully familiar.

"Hand over all your money brat! Me and my pals are hungry." Delinquent number one, who looked to be nothing more than a lackey, was close to assaulting the boy.  
"Lambo-sama doesn't have to give you anything!" Brave kid, either that or he's extremely stupid.  
"Listen up brat!" Delinquent lackey number two grabbed the kid by the front of his shirt. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." The lackey's eyes gleamed at the second option.  
"L-Like L-Lambo-sama s-said, L-Lambo-sama doesn't have to give you a-anything!" Hang on, did he say 'Lambo'. No, it couldn't be him. Could it?  
"Well lookie 'ere boys. It seems we found ourselves a brave one." The group of delinquent lackeys all snickered. A gruffer looking teen, who I imagined was the leader of this delinquent group stepped forward. Lackey number one and two stepped back, making room for their boss. The delinquent leader placed a large hand on the boy's shoulder. The cow child's defiant stance deflated slightly. "Come on boy, make the smart choice. I'm a nice guy so I'll give ya a second chance. Not many people would do that for ya. Hand over all the money ya 'ave on ya, and me and my boys won't touch a hair on yar pretty head. So what do ya think?"  
"N-No! Lambo-sama n-needs this money to find his neesan!"  
"Well that's too bad." The delinquent leader tightened his grip on Lambo's shoulder as he turned to face the lackeys. "Well boys, ya saw me ask nicely. I even gave 'im a second chance." The leaders expression turned malicious. "Get 'im."

I couldn't watch anymore. I pivoted on the spot and ran into the park. _That is definitely Lambo! Why is he here? _The delinquent bullies were fast approaching and the poor kid looked rightly frightened. As he scrunched his eyes shut and brought his arms up in a form of feeble defence I closed in, positioning my body between him and the delinquents. The lackeys seemed to be so surprised that they stopped dead in their tracks. I sensed more than heard Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun take up their own protective positions on my flanks.  
"Well, well. What 'ave we here? Three puny, righteous teens." The delinquent leader sneered. "Ya have no business 'ere, get lost." None of us moved. "Fine with me. These three as well."

The delinquent lackeys all began to move at once, attacking with the best of their abilities. Yamamoto had drawn his Shigure Kintoki and Gokudera-kun his dynamite. I had my fists raised and my gloves equipped, and was parrying the numerous amount of punches thrown at me. The delinquent lackeys were falling under our attacks, they may have looked tough but that was nothing more than appearances, in reality they were quite weak. After the last few lackeys fell we turned to face the leader, falling back into our defensive stances. Both sides were silent for a moment until our adversary took off running in the opposite direction. Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun returned their weapons to their respective sheaths. I turned and faced Lambo.

"Lambo, are you okay?" He didn't respond.

"Oi brat, answer Juudaime!"

"L-Lambo-sama is f-fine. L-Lambo-sama didn't n-need y-your help. Lambo-sama w-would have t-taken them out by h-himself." Lambo looked to be almost in tears.

"Oi Ahoshi! Be grateful that Juudaime even thought of helping you!" Gokudera's dynamite had re-emerged.

Lambo's eyes started watering, that in turn was accompanied by sniffles. "Gotta. Stay. Calm."

Gokudera-kun was doing more harm than good. I need to get him away from Lambo for a moment. "Lambo, it's okay now. Gokudera-kun could you please get us a couple of drinks?"

"Anything for you Juudaime!"

"That's a good idea, Gokudera I'll join you!"

"No one wants your help Baseball Freak!" Despite Gokudera-kun's protests they still walked off together.

"Come with me Lambo, we'll go and sit on that bench over there. Sound good?" Lambo nodded mutely, one of his hands snaked in mine and the other rubbed at his eyes. "So Lambo, where are you from? How come you're in the park?" He didn't respond so I tried a different route. "I heard you tell the delinquents from before that you were looking for your sister. Are you lost?" He still didn't reply so we walked in silence for a while until Lambo tripped and we both landed face first on the ground. I sat up quickly and looked Lambo over.

"Lambo! Are you okay?"

"I, Lambo-sama, 14 years old, a musician from the Bovino Company tripped. Favourite foods are grapes and candy and I, Lambo-sama who's on a special assignment, just tripped." Lambo introduced himself in between sniffles.

_Ah, he finally replied_. "Lambo-"

"Can Lambo-sama ask you a question?" He was wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Yeah, go for it."

"Why did you help me?"

That certainly wasn't the question I was expecting. "I couldn't just stand by and watch them beat the crap out of you. And the fact that I'm stronger than I look helped." I shot him a sincere smile.

Lambo studied me for a moment, his eyes searching for something. Whatever it was he must have found it because his cautious expression disappeared. "Ne oniisan, what's your name?"

"Ah, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You can call me Tsuna though."

"Tsuna, can I tell you something secret?" Lambo leaned in closer to me.

"Sure." I followed suit.

"As I said before, I'm a musician from the Bovino Company and my boss sent me here on a special assignment. He sent me here because he got wind of some information about the idol Yume-Hime." I nodded once. 'Yume-Hime' was my stage name. The company decided that although Sawada Tsunayume was an exotic name it was not the best for this sort of career. Of course,_ I_ was _too young_ to have any say in what _my_ stage name would be, but you'd think they would be able to come up with something better than 'Dream Princess'. Honestly, how much more clichéd could they get? "You know that she is taking a break at the moment right? Well, boss got some information and apparently she's here in this town." _Crap._ _Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap _. _At least that couldn't get any worse._ "My boss sent me here to find her and that when I did to report her location and return back to base. Although, I think he's after her manager, Reborn, more so than her. Reborn humiliated him years ago and now he hates his guts. I think he means to ruin her career and reputation as a way to get back at Reborn. Honestly though, I _really_ don't want to be a part in any of this. I love her music and I look up to her. Can you tell me what I should do?" He looked at me with pleading, hopeful eyes. _Never mind, it just did._

I took in the sight before my eyes. Lambo, a teen two years younger than me, wore a cow patterned shirt, had a not-quite afro, was a musician for one of the rival companies, wore an expression of extreme conflicted indecision, and was asking for my help on what to do about me. "You said you looked up to Yume-Hime? What about your boss?"

"...I can't stand him. He's arrogant and doesn't care about any of the people he holds contracts with, much less his employees. Luckily for me though my contract will end soon. I plan on signing with another company, Vongola if I'm lucky."

Perhaps I could tell him that I'm Yume-Hime? No, that's definitely not an option if I plan on living past my 17th birthday. Reborn would murder me without hesitation. Maybe just some reassuring and encouraging words? I could sing him a song. That seemed to work well with Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto. "Well Lambo, it seems like you're in quite the predicament. You said your contract will be terminated soon, why don't you just draw it out until then?"

"You don't know my boss, that wouldn't work."

"It would, you just have to play your cards correctly. I'll help you."

"I don't know…"

"Trust me.

_Somewhere in a market square  
The cobblestone still shine  
Glassy eyes behold the sight  
Through another cup of wine...  
The one eyed jester skips and turns  
As he makes his way through the crowd  
While the travern's royalty try not to laugh aloud...  
The jester does another spin  
And then falls to the floor  
A show of hands, a short "Hurrah!"  
A plea for him to do more...  
The ease of laughter comes so fast when you're not in  
A jester's shoes  
Cause when you've only Fools Gold, you've got nothing  
more to lose..._

_Who holds the riches_  
_The jester or the king?_  
_A fortress made from Fools Gold_  
_Or the tears that treasure can bring?_

_The king he sit upon his throne_  
_The worlds weight on his chest_  
_When your mind begins to race you've got no time to rest_  
_"Where is my clown?_  
_I need him now, to take my troubles away..."_  
_The harlequin rushes in as his work begins for the day..._  
_While somewhere in a market square_  
_The cobblestones still shine..."_

Lambo was watching me with wide eyes before he nodded his head. "I'll trust you."

Suddenly Gokudera-kun's voice made its way to my ears. "Sorry for taking so long Juudaime! We couldn't find a vending machine!" As Gokudera-kun approached, his puppy dog expression morphed into one of worry. "Juudaime, are you okay?" Gokudera-kun's expression then changed from worry into anger as he looked from me to Lambo. "You stupid cow! What did you do to Juudaime?"

"We just fell over Gokudera-kun, no harm done really."

"I have to agree with Gokudera, Tsuna. You both look pretty banged up." Yamamoto sounded serious.

I gave myself and Lambo a proper look over. Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto were right, our fronts looked like someone attacked us with a file. I was surprised by the amount of grazes the two of us had accumulated, blood was flowing freely out of each one. Now that I noticed them, the pain started to make itself apparent. During the time I took to check myself and Lambo out Gokudera-kun had sunk into a degoza(1) and was continuously smacking his forehead on the ground. He seemed to be mumbling something along the lines of "I failed as Juudaime's right hand man!" and "How can Juudaime ever forgive me?"

_Hurting yourself won't make me forgive you! _"Gokudera-kun! Please stop doing that! It wasn't your fault."

"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we go around to my place and get you two patched up? We can get some lunch while we're there as well." Yamamoto suggested.

"You finally said something useful Baseball Freak!" Without any more discussion we were ushered towards Yamamoto's house.

I don't know what I was expecting Yamamoto's house to look like but I certainly hadn't imagined this. In all honesty, it was amazing. I mean he lived above a freaking sushi restaurant that his father ran. How cool was that? If it weren't for Yamamoto breaking me out my musings I would have been there all day, staring at his house. He held the door open for us and we all filed in. The interior of the restaurant was designed like the typical Japanese styled sushi restaurant. The man behind the sushi bar, whom I assumed was Yamamoto's father, looked up as we came in. His expression went from happy to puzzled then finally concern as it landed on Lambo and I. Yamamoto closed the door after he entered.

"Yo, Dad! Tadaima!"

"Okaeri." He emerged from behind the counter and approached the four of us. "Are these your friends Takashi? What happened to these two?"

Before Yamamoto could respond, I spoke up. "Konnichiwa, Yamamoto-san. Sorry for the intrusion. We're fine, we just tripped. The ground wasn't entirely forgiving."

Yamamoto-san laughed. Yamamoto took this moment to speak up. "Dad, this is Tsuna and Gokudera, the ones that I told you about." Yamamoto-san expression lit up in recognition. "And Lambo here we met earlier today. We were going to go into the house and bandage these two up."

"Sure thing. Then I'll treat you to lunch!" You could clearly see whom Yamamoto took after.

"You don't have to do that." I objected, feeling slight guilty.

"Nonsense. You're Takashi's friends!" Yamamoto started pushing us towards the stairs that lead to the second floor. "Just a moment Takashi. I need to talk to Tsuna for a moment. I'll send him up when I'm done." Yamamoto shot his father a quizzical glance before nodding and ushering Gokudera and Lambo up the stairs.

I was close to panicking again. _Did I do something wrong? Had I somehow made Yamamoto's dad hate me? What if he forbade me from hanging out with Yamamoto?_ However, before I could voice any of my panicked questions, Yamamoto-san started talking. "Takashi told me that you've just moved here." I nodded. "Are you enjoying it?"

"Very much. It's quite different to what I'm used to." I thought back to my days in the company.

"That's good then." Yamamoto-san paused. "Takashi told me about his attempt to commit suicide the other day." My eyes lit up in understanding. "I wanted to thank you." Yamamoto-san was looking me straight in the eye, deadly serious. "Thank you for stopping my idiotic son."

"It's okay, there's no need to thank me. Anyone would have done the same."

"No, they probably wouldn't have. You know that as much as I do, I can see it in your eyes."

I was shocked and my mask fell. "What?"

"It's just a feeling, like your soul's crying."

I suddenly felt very bitter, my eyes narrowed at the ground. "I doubt that, I have no tears left to shed." Yamamoto-san was taken aback by the sheer pain and bitterness in my voice. "Humans are all the same after all. No one notices, and no one cares." I looked Yamamoto-san in the eyes, my expression one of saddened hope. "I had hoped coming here would prove me wrong." I hadn't given up on that, not yet. Besides I'd already found hope in Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto and Lambo.

"Thank you for saving Takashi." I just nodded and headed up stairs.

After Yamamoto had patched both Lambo and I up we headed back down into the restaurant, where Yamamoto-san served us various types of sushi. We had slid into one of the numerous booths, Lambo and I on one side, Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto on the other. It was after we had gotten comfortable, and started eating our sushi when Yamamoto decided to pose a question. "Hey, Tsuna? You know that song you sang for me. What was it called; I don't think I've heard it before."

"Never Too Late. If you had heard it before I'd accuse you of stalking. It's a new song I was working on."

"You mean you wrote that?"

A single nod of my head implied the affirmative. Gokudera-kun's eyes practically sparkled. "Juudaime is so amazing!"

"Not really, anyone can write music. They just have to be able to feel the lyrics."

"The song sounded nice. It was just what I needed! Haha! Your voice had a calming feel to it. You know, it kind of reminded me of that famous female singer; Yume-Hime." As soon as that statement left Yamamoto's mouth I chocked on my Sprite. "You okay, Tsuna?"

"Of course Juudaime's not okay Baseball Freak! You just compared him to that fake girl!"

Wait a minute, did Gokudera-kun say fake? "What do you mean fake?" My voice came out a little higher than I would have liked. I took a moment to regain my composure.

"Nothing about her seems real." He said like it there was no explanation needed.

"I think what Gokudera's trying to say is that everything about her seems like it's forced, nothing more than a facade. Her songs as well, they're beautiful and amazing but they seem really sad. Haha. This probably sounds like nonsense, huh?" Yamamoto scratched his chin.

I was astounded, rendered completely speechless. Was it really that obvious? "What about you Lambo? What do you think about her?"

"Lambo-sama agrees with Baka-dera and Baseball Freak." Well, that was certainly unexpected. I needed to talk to Reborn about this new development. These three, beside Reborn, are probably the only ones to notice. If the company found out about this they'd surely throw a fit. And then make me work more than I already do. "Does she really sound that sad?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, Juudaime!"

"Ah ha!"

I didn't exactly know how to react to that. "Well, I've never been compared with a supposedly depressed idol before."

"Haha. Gomen, that's not exactly what I meant. I just thought that your voices sounded similar. Haha, warui."

"You should be Baseball Freak! Don't compare Juudaime with her!"

"No, it's fine, really.

We went back to eating our sushi. I watched Gokudera-kun chat, well argue, with Yamamoto and Lambo devour most of the sushi before him. I closed my eyes and leaned back after a minute. It was peaceful here; if I could just get a moment's rest I would be fine. Unfortunately that moment of rest only lasted for five minutes before I felt someone tugging on my shirt sleeve. I opened a single eye and spotted Lambo looking almost regretful.

"Ne, ne Tsuna-nii. Lambo-san wants to go to the amusement park."

I opened both eyes and sat up properly, offering a warm smile. Lambo immediately relaxed. "Sure, how about I ask Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun?" Lambo's eyes lit up. _Shesh, despite being 14 he certainly acts like a five year old._ I turned to the two seated across from me. "Ano, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto, Lambo said he wanted to go to the amusement park. I was wondering if we'd be able to go?"

"Of course Juudaime! Anything you want!"

"Sure Tsuna!"

Lambo practically beamed. "Yay! Amusement park here we come!"

After we finished our lunch and thanked Yamamoto-san, who told us to call him Tsuyoshi, we headed out to Namimori Zoo and Amusement Park. Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto lead the way considering Lambo and I had never been there before. It didn't take as long to get there as I thought it would, although I suppose that's to be expected in a town such as this. Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto were chatting excitedly the whole way there, they talking about all the different rides and which ones, in Gokudera-kun's case, he wanted to show me, and in Yamamoto's, were his favourite. When we arrived and bought our tickets and entered the park. It was then that I saw something both completely unexpected and yet very predictable; Reborn. _What's he doing here? Never mind, he's probably checking up on me._

"Ani-ki!" Gokudera-kun looked as if he was about to faint.

"Gokudera-kun, is something wrong?"

"I'm fine Juudaime, sorry for worrying you. I just caught sight of my sister is all."

_What did your sister do to get this kind of reaction?_ "Oh, okay."

By this time Reborn had spotted us and made his way over, there was a pink-haired woman attached to his arm. Surprisingly it was the women who spoke. "Hayato. It's good to see you." _Oh, this must be the sister._ Gokudera-kun's sister looked at the rest of us. "I'm Bianchi, Hayato's sister. Pleased to make your acquaintance." When no one had said anything Bianchi spoke again. "Hayato, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

That seemed to snap Gokudera-kun out of his stupor. "Ah, right. Aniki, this is Juudaime!" Gokuder-kun had his puppy dog expression on again. Reborn raised an eyebrow at this, which went unnoticed by everyone except me.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, call me Tsuna." Bianchi shook my outstretched hand.

"These two are Baseball Freak and Ahoshi." Gokudera-kun's expression had returned to his usual scowl.

"Haha. Yamamoto Takashi."

"Lambo Bovino, but you can call me Lambo-sama."

They both shook Bianchi's hand. Reborn seemed to be growing annoyed at being ignored, Bianchi seemed to notice. "And this is Reborn!" Not only her tone but also her body language became very love struck. It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

At my quizzical expression Reborn mouthed, "Bianchi was my fourth lover." No one else seemed to notice his actions. I took note of his use of the word 'was'.

"Wait, Reborn as Yume-Hime's manager?" Lambo queried.

Reborn looked amused. "The very same."

"So the rumours are true." He muttered.

"You're Yume-Hime's manager? That's so cool." Yamamoto said. "So what brings you here then?"

"Work."

"Love."

"I just happened to run into Bianchi while I was here."

"Reborn needs me."

I take it their relationship didn't work out due to communication problems. Suddenly a bullet whizzed past my head. I turned my attention to Reborn to see him, gun in hand. _Why does he even have a gun? Scratch that, it's Reborn, I don't even want to know. Better yet, how did no one see that? _He was giving me the look, the one that said 'Think that again and next time I won't miss'. So like any self-preserving person I focused my attention on the conversation and kept a tight rein on both my mouth and thoughts.

Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun, Bianchi and Lambo were all having a discussion. I think it was about which ride they wanted to go on first. While the four of them were talking I silently moved next to Reborn. "Weren't you the one who warned me to keep my identity a secret? You know you make that very hard if you keep showing up all the time, right?"  
"You have some interesting friends."  
Great, typical Reborn. It's like I never left. "What do you mean by that?" The accusation was clear in my tone.

"Calm down Dame-Tsuna, I'm not going to do anything. Although it seems you almost told the cow brat."

My heart almost stopped. "W-What?"

"Your response just proved it." Reborn smirked. _That is never good._ "It seems you need some more lessons."

_Oh crap._ "No!" I hissed under my breath. _How does he know!? _

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be at the amusement park?"

Damn, I had hoped to avoid this conversation. "Hm, I'm fine." Reborn gave me a stern look. "I'll be _fine._" I was trying to convince myself as much as I was Reborn.

"Dame-Tsuna-" Whatever Reborn was about to say was lost because Gokudera-kun had pulled me towards the bumper cars.

"Come on Juudaime! Let's start with the bumper cars!"

"No! Lambo-sama wants to go on the teacups!"

"Mah, mah. How about we start with the side show alley?"

They all started to argue. "Minna!" They instantly stopped talking. "Just decide with Jan Ken Pon. It doesn't really matter who goes first as we'll be able to do everything eventually."

"Juudaime, you're so smart!"

In the end, Lambo won the round of Jan Ken Pon and we had a couple of go's on the tea cups. All the spinning made me feel sick and a semi-painful throbbing started in my chest. _I probably shouldn't go on anymore rides._ I looked around at everyone's smiling faces and couldn't bring myself to tell them that I wanted to sit out. _They're having too much fun for me to protest._ The next ride we went on was the dodgem cars, courtesy of Gokudera-kun's win at Jan Ken Pon. A minute burning joined the throbbing in my chest. After we played with various mini games in the sideshow alley Lambo decided that he wanted to ride 'The Dragon'. It was a large rollercoaster that had various loop-da-loops and vertical drops. My heart almost stopped just looking at the beast.

"Ne, ne, Tsuna-nii. Let's hurry up and get in line!"

"Um, I think it would be better if I sat this one out."

"Come on Juudaime, it'll be fun!"

"I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Are you scared Tsuna?"

"_Yes!_ Aren't you?"

"Nope! Don't worry, nothing can happen. We'll all be there with you anyway. Everything will be fine." Yamamoto started to pull me towards the car that was waiting for us to board.

I looked around hoping to spot Reborn, he would have been able to get me out of this mess. Unfortunately Bianchi had decided to take that moment to drag him over to the ice cream stand. As soon as I was strapped in it was too late to back out of it. Gokudera-kun and Lambo had been strapped into the seats in front of us. As the ride started to move, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to keep my breathing even. I had to calm myself down otherwise I would have a freaking heart attack. I heard Yamamoto chuckle from beside me, which cause me to open my eyes to look at him. That was a very bad move as I saw the drop right before it happened. I was panicking too much to even let out a scream. My heart was beating furiously and my chest had started to constrict. We went through several loop-da-loops and a couple more drops before the ride came to a stop and I practically jumped out of my seat.

I searched the crowd looking for Reborn. When I finally located him he looked really worried and downright pissed off. I attempted to stumble my way over to him, eventually I was close enough, that and I couldn't go any further, when I stopped. I had to bend over and place my hands on my knees in an attempt to steady my racing heart and breath. The pain in my chest was slowly building. Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun and Lambo came up behind me, looking slightly worried. My eyes were squeezed shut tight.

"You okay Tsuna?" I couldn't find the energy to reply, but thankfully I didn't have to as Reborn cut in.

"Whose idea was it to drag Tsuna on that ride?" Reborn sounded murderous. "She wouldn't have gone of her own volition, so tell me who it was." It seemed everyone was too panicked to notice Reborn's slip up.

"W-We all d-did." If they weren't worried before, they were now. "Sorry, Tsuna. I didn't think you'd take it that badly."

The rest of their conversation was drowned out. The constriction of my chest was getting worse and the burning sensation was spreading itself throughout my body, becoming all the more intense. It wasn't long until the pain began to show itself in my expression. I had to get away before the others noticed the pain. I couldn't let Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun find out about this. The pain was becoming unbearable. It felt as if someone had strapped an insanely tight harness to my chest, lit my entire body on fire and then decided to stab my cheat area a few hundred times repeatedly.

"I-It's f-fine." I sluggishly stood up straight and put on a smile that looked more like a grimace of pain. My vision began to sway and soon my legs found they couldn't support my weight. The last thing I saw before darkness overtook me were the worried faces of my friends.

"Damn it." Reborn tugged his fedora over his eyes before muttering, "I knew something like this would happen."

* * *

For those who want to know, the song was Fool's Gold by Blackmore's Night.

(1) Was that right? I'm going off memory here, please correct me if I'm wrong. Much appreciated.

This is the first time I've written a cliff hanger. Muahahahahaha!

Oh! I almost forgot... If you would be so kind, please go onto my profile and vote on what instrument Yamamoto should play.


	7. DS, B & IS

Hontōni gomen'nasai! You'll be happy to know that I have a new computer...! I would have posted these sooner but my friend got annoyed with me (meaning that I wasn't allowed to use his computer)... I know, 'excuses, excuses', *cue eye role* but life sucks and it really can't be helped. Hopefully you guys wont be too mad though. As an apology I've uploaded two chapters... °-°' Once again, really sorry...

I've given up on the disclaimer. You guys already know that I don't own it.

* * *

My mind and thought process were sluggish, as if slowly waking up from a deep sleep. I shifted slightly and was assaulted by a minute wave of pain. It wasn't long before the fire began to dwindle, all that was left was the constriction of my chest. It_ hurt,_ but it wasn't as bad as some of the pain I had felt in the past. I soon became aware of a soft flat surface beneath my body; I was lying down on something. _I must be in my bed._ _URGH, what happened?_ Struggling to get my mind to focus I attempted to remember what had happened. The last thing I remembered was going to an amusement park with Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun and Lambo. _Ah! I had an attack! They must have been the ones to bring me home. _Reborn was probably going to kill warning bells began to sound in my head. _They brought me home! What did they see? Are they still here?_ I bolted upright in bed and instantly regretted it. The pain had receded greatly but I couldn't stop the moan that left my mouth.

"Woah there, no need to be so hasty. And don't get too worked up either, I can't have you dying right after I treated you. That would give me a bad name."

Not having noticed the extra person in my room caused me to jump slightly. Good thing Reborn wasn't here. Finally cracking my eyes open I turned to face the voice. I probably shouldn't have been surprised at who it was, but the last I'd heard he was on vacation. The one who sat beside me was none other than Trident Shamal, my personal doctor. "You don't need me for that. You already have a bad name, you pervert."

"Aw, such a feisty one. You shouldn't speak to the one who saved your life like that anyway."

I winced. "Was it really that bad?" He nodded. "Thanks. Sorry for the trouble. You were probably enjoying your holiday."

"Nonsense, a beautiful young lady such as yourself is always welcome to call on me. What kind of doctor would I be if I turned away such attractive patients." Shamal attempted to sling an arm around my waist but ended up with my fist in his gut.

He stopped his perverted attempts and fixed me with an uncharacteristically serious look. "You really do need to take better care of yourself Tsunayume." He stood up slowly and walked to the door. "She's all your's." Shamal left and a new figure entered.

Crap, it was Reborn. He had his usual blank expression plastered on his face. However, due to the amount of time I had spent with him I could tell that he was extremely annoyed. _I am so dead._ Reborn took a seat on the chair Shamal had previously vacated. Neither of us spoke; Reborn just sat there pinning me with those cold eyes of his and I was too scared to break the silence. Eventually I managed to calm down enough that I was sure my voice would come out steadily. "Hello." I instantly regretted saying anything for Reborn's cold eyes intensified.

"You've been asleep for two days Tsunayume." Reborn paused "You're lucky Shamal was in the area. You probably would have died this time if he hadn't gotten here when he did." I swallowed nervously. "Don't do that again Dame-Tsuna."All I could do was nod. Reborn sighed and crossed his legs. The heavy atmosphere instantly lifted as Reborn regained his usual smirk. "As it seems you can't look after yourself," I let out an indignant grunt "I've decided that you need someone here to keep an eye on you."

I raised my eyebrow at that. "Who do you have in mind?"

"You've already met her." It was at that moment when another person walked into the room. _Ah, isn't she Gokudera's sister?_ "Yes she is Dame-Tsuna." I returned my attention back to Reborn. "Bianchi." Bianchi stepped towards my bed and held out a hand. I reached forward to grab it but Reborn stopped me. "You're here to _watch_ her not attempt to kill her."

Bianchi let out a disappointed huff. "But Reborn." Bianchi's voice was almost a whine as she dragged out his name. "If she wasn't here then you could come home with me." Reborn simply sent her a stern look and left the room. Bianchi shot me a glare. "Reborn's mine." She hissed out.

I gave her a smile in reply. "Don't worry Bianchi-san, he's in love with you. I have no intention to get in between that. He's only here to make sure I don't get into too much trouble." I shot Bianchi another friendly smile, which I could only hope conveyed the truth of my words.

Bianchi stared at me for a moment before smiling. "I've made some breakfast, come down when you're ready." With that, she stood up and left me alone in my room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, I fell back onto my bed. My whole body felt fatigued in spite of the two days of continuous sleep I'd had. Shamal was right, I really did need to take better care of myself. Although, I doubt anyone would really miss me. My classmates weren't close enough to me to actually care all that much. The only ones that would show some kind of reaction would probably be Yamamoto, Lambo Gokudera-kun and Reborn. They'd most likely just think of it as a nuisance in the end though. The company would end up being the only ones who would cause a ruckus, but they'd find someone to replace me in no time. I sighed and pushed myself out of my bed. As I wasn't going anywhere today didn't bother changing before I opened my door and headed down stairs to the kitchen.

When I was a few steps away from the floor a putrid smell assaulted my nose. I turned the corner to find Bianchi standing in front of some vile looking concoction. It was literally emitting purple fumes. Making an immediate decision I kicked Bianchi out of the kitchen, grabbed the pot, opened the balcony door and threw the whole thing over the railing.

After I was back inside with the door shut behind me I sent Bianchi a slightly unnerved smile. "How about we leave all the cooking to me in the future."

Bianchi nodded gratefully. "Sorry, everything I cook seems to turn into some poisonous concoction." she looked somewhat abashed.

I had to sweat drop at that. _Who the Hell taught you how to cook? _"You just need some more practice is all. Anyway, any preferences for breakfast?"

Bianchi shook her head. I pondered on what to cook for a couple of minutes before I decided on something simple; omelettes. The time that I spent cooking our breakfast in the kitchen passed by quickly in silence. It wasn't until I emerged with the dishes and sat down that Bianchi started to converse with me. She asked all sorts of questions about Gokudera-kun, what I thought about school and the types of friends I had made. Even when we had covered all sorts of topics, somehow we still found plenty more to talk about. It felt really nice to be able to talk to someone like this and not have to hide some secret, or have them wanting something from you. When I was younger, I sometimes I found myself wishing that I had a mother to be able to converse with like this on a daily basis. I constantly had to remind myself that, that would probably never happen and just hoping that it would, would just prolong the sorrow.

As Bianchi noticed the nth yawn that made its way past my lips, she ushered me up to my bed for some rest, promising that she would clean up. Not having had the energy to voice a protest I simply complied with her orders. Once I had reached my room, I moved over to my bed, which had looked much too inviting. I sprawled myself out under the sheets and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

_I am not looking forward to this_, I thought to myself as I walked through the school's gates. Reborn had told me how worried and guilt-ridden Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun and Lambo had looked when they left on Sunday. They were probably going to be extremely angry with me when they see me in the classroom. _So not looking forward to this,_ I sighed as I mentally prepared myself for their reactions. It didn't take much longer for me to reach the classroom door. I stopped just in front of it, not entirely ready to face anyone yet. _They probably won't want to be friends with me anymore. I can't really blame them though, who would want to be friends with someone so troublesome. _Finally, I slid the door open, resigned for whatever would come. Gokudera-kun was the first to notice me; he called out a loud 'Juudaime' and practically sprinted across the classroom. I had to hide a flinch at the movement. Gokudera-kun looked like he wanted to reach out and touch me to make sure that I was actually there.

Yamamoto's approach was as enthusiastic as Gokudera-kun's was. He bound up to me as well, albeit at a much more relaxed pace, and carefully slung an arm around my shoulder. It seemed he also wanted to make sure I was actually there. "Yo Tsuna!"

Gokudera-kun was snapped out of his worried state at Yamamoto's actions. "Oi, baseball freak! Don't touch Juudaime so casually!" He whipped out his dynamite.

"Maa, maa. Tsuna doesn't mind."

Seeming to remember the reason why he was there Gokudera-kun turned his attention back towards me. "Juudaime! Are you okay?"

"Yeah Tsuna, what happened to you the other day?"

I was a little surprised at their reactions. I was almost certain that they would hate me after that incident. "I-I'm fine, I just really don't like rollercoasters." Reborn had suggested that I tell them the truth about what had happened, but I didn't want to give them something unnecessary to think about. It was better if they remained in the dark about it, besides I would make sure that it would not happen again.

In an instant Gokudera-kun was on the ground apologising profusely. "I'm so sorry Juudaime! I should have listened to you!" were the only parts that I was able to catch, the rest just seemed like incoherent babble.

"Yeah, sorry Tsuna. We shouldn't have made you do something you didn't want to."

"Oh, what's this? What did you guys do to Tsuna?" During the conversation Natsume-san, Ryuunosuke-san Yoshiaki-san, Tatsuya-san and Kazuki-san had walked up behind Yamamoto. Now that I looked around I found that most of the class was listening intently to our conversation.

"Nothing much, we went to the amusement park. I fainted after going on the giant rollercoaster." I scratched the side of my face trying to avoid everyone's eyes. The whole class laughed and went back to their own musings. Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun looked at me a little suspiciously but let it drop. It seemed they were the only ones who found being on leave from school for two days after a simple fainting spell weird.

"Haha. Well done, Tsuna, well done." Ryuunosuke-san commented.

"Yeah… We should probably get to our seats now, sensei will be here soon." I replied

* * *

When school was out Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun kidnapped me. They had decided that we weren't through with our previous discussion on my fainting episode. I had to hand it to them; they were very gentle and civil kidnappers. I supposed that they thought I might break at even the slightest touch. That was something I need to get out of their minds fairly quickly. Lambo joined us not long after we had started walking, he looked at me with equal amounts of worry and determination as Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto did. I didn't like those looks; they told me that there was no getting out of it without having this talk. Their base of operations – where I suspected the interrogation was going to take place – was a booth in the back corner of Tsuyoshi-san's sushi restaurant. Gokudera-kun seemed slightly uncomfortable with that. After we greeted Tsuyoshi-san and settled ourselves into the booth the boys began the interrogation.

I was sitting in the corner of the booth, wedged in between Lambo and the wall. I was determined not to be the one to start this conversation; I made that clear with my body language. My head was bowed and my eyes glued to my clenched hands resting on the table. I really did not want to have this conversation, if they found out what really happened they would either become extremely overprotective or would want to wash their hands of someone so pathetic. I couldn't take it if they chose either of those actions, my heart would break completely. _Just breathe Tsuna, breathe deeply. You are an actor, who can, on occasion, fool even 'The Great Reborn'. Just don't let them see past the mask and you'll be fine. Nothing will have to change._ Reborn had told me to tell the truth and usually I could trust his advice, but this time, this time I couldn't.

It seemed Yamamoto had noticed my defiant attitude and decided to break the ice. "Tsuna, what happened? I know it wasn't just a simple fainting spell."

"What makes you say that?" I decided that playing dumb would be a fine enough approach.

"Tsuna-nii! You can tell us."

"Tell you what?" My acting was as good as ever.

"Do you not trust us Juudaime?"

My mask held strong, but on the inside I felt guilt wash over me. "You know that's not true. You guys are just looking too far into something that isn't there."

The three of them stared at me for a minute; I returned each of their gazes evenly, daring them to protest. During our talk the atmosphere had grown increasingly heavier than the cheerful vibe that the Sushi shop usually sported. After a few minutes, each of the boys all looked away, instantly shattering the depressing weight in the air. Lambo was immediately cheerful, Gokudera-kun was back to his usual scowling-at-the-baseball-freak self and Yamamoto's smile returned, they must have been satisfied that nothing was wrong. They all began to talk excitedly, well except Gokudera-kun; he started another 'fight' with Yamamoto. I sighed; _they're too easy to fool._ Tsuyoshi approached our table not long after that bearing sushi.

"Thanks dad!"

Tsuyoshi nodded and walked back behind his counter. Yamamoto turned back to the conversation at hand. We had somehow gotten onto the topic of music. Lambo was telling us about his job as a musician at the Bovino Company.

"I play the electric guitar for one of their minor bands."

"Really? That's so cool! Maybe you could give me a few tips?" Yamamoto was as enthusiastic as always.

"You play the electric guitar as well Yamamoto?" I asked surprised. He didn't strike me as the musical type.

"Yeah. We could do a duet. Haha. And Tsuna could sing!"

"Why would Juudaime sing with you two, baseball freak?"

"Maa maa." Yamamoto scratched the side of his head before his smile lit up. "Ne, we should all go and do karaoke sometime!"

"Karaoke? Why the hell should we do that?"

"It might be fun."

"I agree, we should!" Lambo was almost jumping in his seat.

Gokudera-kun was grumbling but I could tell that he liked the idea. "I'll only go if Juudaime does!"

All three of the boys turned their attention to me. I smiled. "Why not, it'll be fun. And I'll finally get to see what everyone got so excited about." The last part of that was more to myself but they still managed to catch it.

"Tsuna-nii, have you never gone to karaoke before?"

I nodded feeling slightly embarrassed with the looks they were giving me. "No?"

"Well that settles it. Is Friday afterschool good for you guys?"

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun practically launched themselves out of their seats. Gokudera-kun was slightly more subtle about it though. As I took my time packing up my things I could practically feel their excitement radiating off them in waves. When we were out of the classroom, I was once again being dragged along between the two, although this time more willingly than the last. After they had discovered that I'd never been to karaoke before they decided to make a whole event out of it by inviting the girls; whom had agreed to go wholeheartedly. So now, our little group was heading towards the only real karaoke bar in Namimori.

I was feeling quite excited despite myself. Although I did wonder whether or not this trip was some kind of apology for what happened at the amusement park. Yamamoto Gokudera-kun and Lambo still regarded me with caution, they seemed to feel rather guilty. I honestly didn't understand what they had to apologise for though. If anyone should apologise it ought to be me.

Somehow, Reborn had gotten wind of this little outing and decided that it would be fun to tag along. Of course, anywhere Reborn went Bianchi followed, so with the addition of two extra people we entered the shop. The shop attendant was a nice person as she offered refreshments and directed us to one of the free rooms. Karaoke on a Friday afternoon was more popular than I thought it would be.

The interior of our karaoke room was larger than I had expected. I had pictured it to be a tiny room with just enough floor space for four or five people. In actuality, it was a cosy booth that could comfortably fit 15 people, give or take. The door opened into the front of the room, which was where a TV screen was embedded into the wall. There was even a little stage that offered a sense of faux professionalism. The other three walls were all padded and had backless couches pushed up against them. A table was sitting in the middle of the room with a couple of menus and coasters adorning its surface. It all looked so comfortable. As the door closed behind us all outside noise was cut off. The only sound I could hear was the faint song coming from the speakers in the front corners of the room.

Yamamoto was the first to claim a position on the couch as he dropped down onto it. "Ahhh." Yamamoto stretched. "So, who's going first?"

As time progressed, I watched each of my friends as they took their turns singing a song of their choice. Some of them had pretty good voices, Chrome especially. I could now say that I understood what my colleagues meant when they spoke about the fun of karaoke. I agreed with them; this really was fun. Suddenly a melody caught my attention; someone had chosen one of my songs. I looked over to the microphone but no one was standing there. Then I looked at each of my friends, they seemed equally confused. Reborn took that moment to speak up.

"Go on Dame-Tsuna. It's your turn." I looked at him like he was insane.

Despite not knowing the deeper motive, my friends decided to jump on board with Reborn's plan. "Woo! Go Tsuna!"

"Yeah, you'll rock Juudaime!"

As I began to protest, Reborn pulled me out of my seat and pushed me towards the small stage. I glared daggers at him but it didn't seem to have any effect. Before I had the chance to sing though, there was an almost silent knock at the door.

"I'll get it." I was off the stage before anyone could move. I opened the door to find a short red haired kid and Lambo.

"Tsuna-nii!" Lambo encompassed me in a hug before running into the room.

"Hello." I offered.

The boy seemed somewhat awkward. "Hi. Um, he was lost." He motioned to Lambo.

"Oh, thanks for bringing him here. He wasn't too much trouble was he?"

"No, no he was fine." We stood there uncomfortably for a couple of seconds before he started to speak. "Well, I should be going."

"Wait. Would you like to come in? As thanks for bringing Lambo to us?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You're not intruding. The more the merrier. I'm sure everyone would be happy to have another person join us." I looked at him expectantly for a moment.

"If you're sure. I'm Shoichi Irie by the way." He held out his hand, which I took and also introduced myself.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. Just Tsuna will do Shoichi-san."

"Then excuse my intrusion." He said as he walked into the room.

Shoichi-san was a bit awkward at first but he seemed to relax and settle. He even sang a couple songs. Eventually I decided that it was about time that I chose a song. I leaned over the table and input my song selection before I stood up. Everyone's excited chatter quietened down as they noticed me approach the stage. Despite myself I was feeling sort of nervous. This would be my first time performing for such a large group willingly; moreover for my _friends_. I wanted it to be good. Soon the melody started playing and I took a deep breath.

_"Looking up from underneath  
Fractured moonlight on the sea  
Reflections still look the same to me  
As before I went under_

_And it's peaceful in the deep  
Cathedral where you cannot breathe  
No need to pray, no need to speak  
Now I am under all_

_And it's breaking over me  
A thousand miles down to the sea bed  
Found the place to rest my head  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go_

_And the arms of the ocean are carrying me  
And all this devotion was rushing out of me  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me  
But the arms of the ocean delivered me_

_Though the pressure's hard to take  
It's the only way I can escape  
It seems a heavy choice to make  
And now I am under all_

_And it's breaking over me  
A thousand miles down to the sea bed  
Found the place to rest my head  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go_

_And the arms of the ocean are carrying me  
And all this devotion was rushing out of me  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me  
But the arms of the ocean delivered me_

_And it's over  
And I'm going under  
But I'm not giving up  
I'm just giving in_

_I'm slipping underneath  
So cold and so sweet_

_And the arms of the ocean so sweet and so cold  
And all this devotion I never knew at all  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner released  
And the arms of the ocean delivered me_

_Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Deliver me  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Deliver me  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Deliver me  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Never let me go_

_And it's over  
And I'm going under  
But I'm not giving up  
I'm just giving in  
_

_I'm slipping underneath  
So cold and so sweet"_

"Juudaime was so amazing that the machine couldn't take it!"

"Haha. Good job Tsuna!"

I blushed deeply at that before I started to panic. _Crap, that woman is probably going to be really mad at me._ As I was inspecting the poor machine I felt a presence behind me. Curious, I turned around. It was Shoichi-kun, he was looking critically at the device in front of me.

"Excuse me Tsuna-san, but do you think you could move over a bit?"

"Huh? Uh, sure." I shuffled over as Shoichi-kun knelt down next to me.

The following events happened in the span of a couple of seconds. I almost couldn't be sure that I actually saw what Shoichi-kun did. He had whipped out some tools, opened up the back of the machine, tweaked a few circuits and then closed everything back up. After that the device worked perfectly again.

"I'm an inventor. Well, I'd like to be." Shoichi-kun answered my puzzled expression a few minutes later.

"Wow. You're amazing."

"Thanks." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

The rest of the afternoon passed in much the same manner; singing, arguments from Gokudera-kun, sadistic tendencies from Reborn, _although, I will admit that they were toned down significantly_, and general fun. It wasn't long after that when we all went home. _Hmm,_ I sighed to myself as I unlocked my front door. _Perhaps it is possible._

* * *

For anyone who want's to know the song was 'Never Let Me Go' by Florence and the Machine


	8. Sasagawa-senpai

At that moment in time, I could be seen sprinting through the much-deserted streets of Namimori. A frenzied expression had taken up residence upon my face. _Crap! Crap, crap, crap! Why the hell does he do this to me!?_

It was safe to say that I was pretty much hysterical. You can't really blame me though. I'd like to see someone else wake up to a notoriously sadistic man standing over their bed with one hell of an equally gleeful and sinister smile plastered on his face. If you wake up to that and find yourself not the _slightest_ bit worried then I commend you on your bravery.

Oh how I would have loved it if my troubles had stopped there. Unfortunately for me, said sadistic man standing over my bed was Reborn. When he had _that_ smirk in place you just knew that shit was going to hit the fan. So doing the only _logical_ thing I could think of; I jumped out of bed and placed as much distance between him and myself. Of course, the fact that Reborn knew me almost as well as I knew myself didn't seem to register so soon after waking. In the next couple of seconds I found myself dangling from the roof, caught in some giant net. Reborn's smirk only grew.

"I'll see you downstairs in an hour."

"Wait! Reborn!" The door slammed shut. _Great, this is just fabulous._

Getting downstairs wasn't as easy as it was supposed to be; Reborn had rigged the entire house with traps. However, that wasn't the worst of it for he seemed to know exactly where and how I would position myself. I supposed that, that was what years of working together did. So, due to our _close_ and _friendly_ relationship I found myself hugging the floor after having tripped over a freaking trip wire seven times. Two buckets of water had decided that my head was a nice place to land. Numerous cuts and bruises from various objects that came flying at me adorned all visible skin on my body. Not to mention the sore muscles from all the jumping, climbing and running I had to do to avoid said traps; and a lot of good that did me. Well, at least I wasn't dead yet.

By the time I reached the kitchen Reborn had just finished of his cup of coffee. The room looked relatively safe, not to mention the fact that Reborn was sitting casually at the table, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Knowing Reborn there was definitely some kind of booby trap in there. After taking into account the fact that Bianchi was nowhere to be seen, she had undoubtedly been told about this little wakeup call beforehand. _It was so nice of her to warn me_, I thought sarcastically to myself. I had to wonder how the hell Reborn would have had enough time to set all of this up though. Not to mention how quite he would have had to have been considering how light a sleeper I was. I could almost swear that he wasn't entirely human. I returned my attention back to the subject at hand. His expression was as blank as ever but something in his aura told me just how amused he was.

Reborn's hand successful used his fedora to shield his eyes from view, but that did nothing to hide his gleeful grin. "You're three seconds late Dame-Tsuna." He cocked his gun. "We're going training."

So that was how I found myself sprinting as fast as I could down the street. _Waaah~! Why me!? Why the hell does he always decide to target me!?_ I chanced a look behind me, Reborn was nowhere in sight. Maybe I had lost him? _Hah, yeah right. The day I manage to lose Reborn is the day that the world will come to an end. _With more self-pitying screams continuing in my head I raced around the corner. When I had started to run earlier, there was one thing I hadn't expected; and that was for anyone else to be up at this unruly hour of the morning. It was three o'clock for crying out loud! What sane person would be up at that kind of time? Okay, granted that while I was still working for the company I was usually required to get up at this time. So excluding all the people, which I know for sure is few in number, who were up and about for their careers, I really didn't expect any one else to be.

Due to the fact that I had been looking behind myself, I didn't see the person in front of me until I crashed into him. We both went sprawling to the ground with all the force of gravity. I ended up landing on top of him. After the dust cloud disappeared and I managed to regain my senses, I jumped off him and apologised profusely.

"Gomen. I wasn't watching where I was going. You're not hurt are you? Gomen nasai."

"That was extreme!"

"Ex-Extreme? You didn't hit your head did you?"

"I'm fine!" The strange white haired teen stood up and stretched. "That was an extreme tackle."

"Tackle? It's not like I intended to crash into you." I said incredulously, almost shouting._ What kind of person goes around tackling people at three in the morning? Better yet what kind of person thinks people do? Maybe this guy did hit his head._

Before either of us could make another comment, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I swiftly swung around only to find myself staring at a man's suited chest. Crap, Reborn had caught up. I took a couple of steps back, keeping my eyes focused on the figure in front of me. In doing so, I noticed as his gaze slipped from mine to land on the strange teenager beside me. For some unknown reason his smirk's intensity increased. In an instant I grabbed the teen's arm, exclaimed 'run' in a whisper and sprinted away from Reborn. I spared a moment to look back, he was sauntering along with his hands tucked idly in his pockets. The fact that he was walking made him all the more intimidating.

As we ran for our lives, well I was, the boy looked rather confused, we had practically covered the whole town in a sprinted run. I only came to a halt once I found myself at the border of the forest. As we stopped to regain our breathing, I took a better look at the strange white haired teen. He was dressed in a tight fitted white singlet and grey track pants. _He must have been out for an early morning jog before I ran into him._ Curiously, he had white medical tape stuck over the bridge of his nose. For some reason I didn't think it was for an injury. The teen appeared to be around at least a foot taller than me. _What is with all these tall people? Am I just abnormally short or something?_ While I cried internally the boy turned his attention towards me.

"Who was that?"

"Um, my… Tutor?"

"Your tutor? Does he always chase you around?"

"Uh, no, not really."

"Well that was some extreme running! You should join my Boxing Club!"

"Boxing?" I was beginning to question this guy's sanity.

"Yeah! I'm Sasagawa Ryohei, captain of the Namichuu boxing club!" He extended his hand.

_Sasagawa? Haven't I heard that name somewhere before? _I hesitantly stretched out my hand to grab his, only to have mine almost shaken off. "Sawada Tsunayoshi. Sorry, but I think I'll pass on that offer."

"Why!"

"Um, because I don't want to join?"

He seemed to contemplate that for a moment. "I'll get you into my club one way or another, Sawada! I need to go and prepare." With that statement he ran off, back into the town.

Once Sasagawa-san's figure had disappeared from view Reborn emerged from the bushes behind me. His gun was sitting comfortably in his hand. "He seems nice."

"Reborn!"

"What about Yamamoto and Gokudera? Won't they be jealous?" Reborn cocked an eyebrow keeping his face completely serious.

I blushed furiously. "It's not like that and you know it!"

"True." We stood there for a moment longer before I felt Reborn's sadistic smirk growing. "Come along Dame-Tsuna, we're going to train."

I tried to run again but he cut me off. "But I have to go to school today!"

"No need I already called and told them you wouldn't be there."

"Wha–" I had run out of arguments. After sighing in defeat I let Reborn drag me away to god knows where.

* * *

After that whole fiasco with Reborn, I was knackered. He wouldn't let me leave until he had run me dry. By the end of it, I was convinced that I would never be able to sweat again. The amount of obstacles and courses that Reborn had created was ridiculous. The sheer impossibility and danger of those challenges would have had any _normal _person running for their life. Unfortunately for me, I had no choice in the matter. _Thirteen freaking hours of vigorous training. And with Reborn no less! Do you know how insane that is!_ To make things worse, when I got home, I found that I had hardly any food supplies left. There was not nearly enough to make dinner for both Bianchi and I. I sighed in defeat, _looks like my rest won't come as soon as I would have liked._ After I had called out to Bianchi and explained the situation, I set off outside to do some late afternoon shopping.

The streets weren't as crowded as the last time I went shopping. For a shopping district they were pretty much deserted. Although that made things easier for me, I wouldn't have to waste any more energy dealing with crowds and pushy people. As I continued to head down the street the supermarket was beginning to come into view. When I was no more than a few steps away from the entrance a familiar voice called out to me.

"Tsuna-kun!" I turned around to find Kyoko-chan and my new acquaintance Sasagawa-san. _Ah! So that's where I've heard the name before. Sasagawa is Kyoko's name._

"Kyoko-chan, Sasagawa-san." I nodded at each in greeting.

"You know my brother Tsuna-kun?"

"I met him this morning actually."

"Onii-san! Why didn't you tell me you met Tsuna-kun! He's the one I was telling you about."

"Oh! That extreme guy! I didn't realise it was you!"

"What am I going to do with you onii-san?" Kyoko-chan shook her head in good natured amusement. "So Tsuna-kun, are you feeling better?"

_Feeling better? Why would- Oh! I wasn't in school today!_ "Yeah, I'm a little exhausted though."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Well um, my… _friend_ came to visit and decided that the only way to get better was to exercise nonstop."

"Friend? Was that the extreme man that was chasing you this morning?"

I flinched slightly. "Haha, yeah… So, what brings you two out here?"

I had to get something from the supermarket. Onii-san came with me to carry it. What about you Tsuna-kun? What brings you here?"

"I'm low on supplies and decided to restock."

"Hey, Sawada! Come with us."

"That's a great idea onii-san! We can get our shopping together."

"Sure."

"Great! Onii-san can push the trolley." Kyoko-chan hooked her arm through mine and led the way into the supermarket.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the sightly crowded supermarket with Kyoko-chan and Sasagawa-san. While doing this I was able to witness their sibling relationship first hand. They seemed to be complete opposites; Sasagawa-san was brash and loud, while Kyoko-chan was gentle and kind. However, despite their obvious differences there was one major aspect that they both shared, their desire to protect the other. It must have stemmed from a past experience but they appeared to be aware of each other's every move. I was able to tell though, that both were equally kind hearted and good-natured. It made me wonder if all siblings were like them. Once we had both bought the various items that we required, we bid each other goodbye and parted ways.

Dinner that night was quite uneventful. Bianchi had called not long after I had returned home and informed me that she would be paying her brother a visit. As a result dinner turned out to be rather quiet. I sat in silence reflecting on the events of the day. For the rest of the night I was left to my own devices.

* * *

I woke up early the next morning. Granted, it wasn't as early as the previous day, but it was earlier than a usual school morning. I let out a groan as I realised that I still had an hour and a half before school started. I rolled over and attempted to fall back into sleep's warm embrace but found that I couldn't. _Damn it Reborn! This is all your fault!_ With another annoyed groan, I pushed myself out of my bed and started to get ready for the day. A quick shower was first up on the to-do list, followed by breakfast and then the other bare necessities in preparation for school. It had taken no more than twenty minutes before I had completed all of that. After deciding to get an early start on my walk to school, I left a note informing Bianchi of where her breakfast was and headed out the door.

I could feel the crisp morning air on my skin; it sent a slight chill down my spine. The sky was stuck in that pale grey state before the sun decided to make its presence known. The neighbourhood was quiet; very few people were out and about. Something about these characteristics brought a sense of foreboding to the forefront of my mind. _Stop worrying about the weather Tsuna! It's natural for this time of the morning._ Despite my reassurances I couldn't quite convince myself. I had learnt from my mistakes once before that my instincts should be trusted.

As I continued down the street I became lost in my thoughts and before I knew it, I had already reached the school. I stopped just outside of the gates and looked upon the visage of the buildings in front of me. They were rather plain, but I supposed that, that was only natural for a school. For some reason I felt unusually unnerved that day. Something just wasn't sitting right in the pit of my stomach. My gut was constantly yelling at me, trying to warn me about something approaching. The only problem was that the feeling was rather vague; I had no idea what to expect. The only good side to whatever it was, was that it didn't appear to be an immediate danger. After a slight self-berating comment and a deep breath, I walked in through the school gates and onto school grounds.

Suddenly the silence was replaced with a deep jazzy melody that I recognised to be from a saxophone. After having decided to follow my ears, I found my way to what appeared to be a clubroom. It didn't seem to be the usual size assigned to afterschool activities, it was significantly bigger. The slightly weathered appearance of the walls and door suggested that it was probably the home for some sports team. The sign on the door read 'BOXING CLUB'. _Haven't I heard of that somewhere before? _Eventually the soulful sound of the saxophone stopped. I stood there for a minute staring at the door, trying to decide whether or not I should open it. When I had finally decided and had my arm out to slide open the door, someone else beat me to it. The door slid open to reveal a figure dressed in the male summer uniform. My eye level reach his chest and I cursed to myself. _Why do I have to be some damn short? Scratch that, why the Hell does everyone have to be so abnormally tall?_ I looked up to find myself faced with Sasagawa-senpai. He was watching me with a confused expression.

"Sawada?"

"Sasagawa-senpai, was that you playing the saxophone?"

He looked surprised for a minute. "Yes. That was extremely me."

"You sounded pretty good. How long have you been playing?"

"I extremely can't remember!" _Right. I'm really beginning to think that, that fall caused him some brain damage._ "Hey Sawada! Now that you're here you should join the boxing club!"

_And it comes back to that. This guy really is persistent._ "Like I said before, I'm not interested Sasagawa-senpai."

"I know! I challenge you to a boxing match after school! If I win you have to join the boxing club!"

_Does this guy ever give up? Wait, no offense to him, but I'm sure to win. I'll finally get him off my back about joining his blasted club._ "Sure, I'll see you after school then Sasagawa-senpai." I turned around and walked past the various other students who were beginning to arrive.

* * *

Like always, school passed in no time and I soon found myself standing across from Sasagawa-senpai his clubroom. Throughout the day Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun, Kyoko-chan, Hana-chan and Chrome-chan had discovered that there would be a boxing match between Sasagawa-senpai and I. So when the end of school came around they decided to invite themselves along. It was fine with me, this way I could kill two birds with one stone. I'd be able to get Sasagawa-senpai to stop pestering me about the boxing club and I could eradicate Yamamoto and Gokudera's illusion of my fragility. Things seemed to be turning in my favour. Well, they were until I realised what attire was worn for a boxing match; bare chested and boxers. _It won't sound too weird if I ask whether I can keep my uniform on or not, right?_

"Hurry up Sawada! Let's get this extreme boxing match started!"

I shrugged off my bag and climbed into the ring. No one commented on my uniform much to my relief. Suddenly the bell dinged and Sasagawa-senpai threw himself at me: one jab after another. _He's pretty good. Not that I didn't expect it, he is the captain after all. _After a while I got bored of simply dodging his punches and decided to retaliate. I ducked under his guard and sent my own punch right into his abdomen. I watched, a little shocked, as he went flying out of the ring. _I did not know I could punch that hard…_ The sound of Sasagawa-senpai standing up brought me out of my astonished daze. _How can he stand up after that? He almost went through the freaking wall!_

"That was an extreme match Sawada! This is even more reason why you should join the boxing club!"

I felt like smashing my head against the wall. _How thick is this guy!?_ I took a deep breath and reigned in my slight irritation. It wouldn't do to let my emotions run wild. "Yes, that was an _extreme _match. You can take it as my rejection to your invitation. I'm sorry, but I won't be joining the boxing club." I swung myself out of the ring through the ropes and landed gracefully on my feet.

"That was amazing Tsuna-kun, onii-san!" Kyoko-chan commented.

"Yeah!" Yamamoto chipped in. "You two sure can fight."

Gokudera nodded his encouragement while Hana-chan muttered something about monkeys. Chrome-chan offered a shy smile. "Well now that that's over, let's all go home." Kyoko-chan suggested.

"You guys go ahead, Sasagawa-senpai and I will catch up." I said, a touch of seriousness hidden in my tone.

"I'm not leaving without Juudaime!"

"I'll be fine Gokudera-kun." My attitude was a touch warning.

Gokudera-kun shot me an uncertain look before his duty bound nature kicked in and he left through the door. The others followed suit soon after. "We'll wait at the gate." With Kyoko-chan's parting words Sasagawa-senpai and I were left alone in the room.

"So Sasagawa-senpai, is there something you want to get off your chest?"

"What do you extremely mean?"

"There's something about you. Something that radiates a certain forlorn quality. I was wondering if you wanted to tell me about it?"

A clarity lit up Sasagawa-senpai's eyes and he was silent for a moment. "Any particular reason why I should?"

"How about three? One, you shouldn't bottle up your emotions." I counted them down on my fingers. "Two, it's not the best idea to shoulder such an obvious burden on your own. And three, I'm your friend. Or am I wrong in that assumption?"

Sasagawa-senpai looked startled. "No, we're extremely friends. I guess you're right." He let out a breath and ran a hand over his short hair. "My parents died when Kyoko and I were still in primary school. As such we've had to fend for ourselves for a long time. We were fine at first, but then something happened. There were some junior high school kids who hated me. And one day they called me out using Kyoko. When I went to the place, there were many punks waiting. Yeah... It was a trap... I was beaten up and severely injured with a crack in my head..." Sasagawa-senpai paused there for a moment, seemingly reliving his memories of that day. "That's how I got this scar on my forehead. Kyoko still thinks that it was her fault. Since then I've made sure not to get into any pointless fights and kept Kyoko away from all of that. I've taken up boxing as a way to defend the both of us. She's all I have left; I couldn't carry on with my life if I lost her."

"She's not _'all you have left'_ as you so aptly put it. You do realise that you have friends right? Friends are like a surrogate family; the family _you choose_.

_Sometimes in our lives  
We all have pain, we all have sorrow  
But if we are wise  
We know that there's always tomorrow_

_Lean on me when you're not strong  
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on  
For it won't be long  
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on_

_Please, swallow your pride  
If I have things you need to borrow  
For no one can fill those of your needs  
That you won't let show_

_You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand  
We all need somebody to lean on  
I just might have a problem that you'll understand  
We all need somebody to lean on_

_Lean on me when you're not strong  
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on  
For it won't be long  
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on_

_You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand  
We all need somebody to lean on  
I just might have a problem that you'll understand  
We all need somebody to lean on_

_If there is a load  
You have to bear that you can't carry  
I'm right up the road, I'll share your load  
If you just call me_

_If you need a friend  
Call me  
When you need a friend  
If you ever need a friend  
Call me  
Call me  
Call me  
Call me  
If you need a friend  
Call me  
Call me  
Call me  
Call me  
Call me _

"You can rely on your friends to help you, you know. They're there for you. If they're true friends they would help you even if it put themselves in danger. They would most certainly help you look out for Kyoko-chan as well as yourself. All you would have to do is ask."

Sasagawa-senpai was silent again. He looked to be deep in thought. After what seemed to be five minutes he lifted his head and pinned me with a determined expression. "Onii-san…"

"Sorry?"

"Call me onii-san." He said with a smile.

I returned the expression. "Sure thing onii-san. Come on then, let's go and join our_ friends_. They must be wondering what's taking us so long." Onii-san and I walked out of the clubroom and headed for the front gate. The smile never left his face.

* * *

Can anyone guess who's coming next? I'm excited for it, I'll tell you that. ;)

The song was 'Lean On Me' by Bill Withers

**IMPORTANT! **HOW QUICKLY DO YOU WANT THIS STORY TO END? I have an ending in mind which will be fast approaching once all the guardians are introduced. That is, unless anyone wants the Acrobaleno, Giglio Nero, Shimon and Tomaso to show up. That would inevitably prolong the story. I do have a plot in mind for that aspect (it wouldn't just randomly be "Oh hey look! It's the Shimon! OMG!" moves on to next group). I have a decent idea of how to incorporate them (which will lead me to another question of whether or not anyone wants Tsuna to have a romantic relationship) but whether I do or don't comes down to you guys. Would you like me to include the Acrobaleno, Giglio Nero, Shimon and Tomaso? Plese drop me a review with your preference. Thanks.


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